With no winner yet declared in Alaska’s Senate race, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to demand that votes for two minor candidates be handed to the Republican incumbent.
“The vote totals for the Fake Dan Sullivan, plus the other ‘slug’ that the Dems put on the Ballot, should be immediately given to the REAL Dan Sullivan, and the Election is over – He easily wins. There is no other fair solution! President DJT,” Trump wrote.
The demand is Trump’s latest attempt to tip a race that remains too close to call. As of early Wednesday, Democrat Mary Peltola led Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by 626 votes, 48% to 47.7%, with more than 98% of precincts reporting, according to Alaska Public Media.
Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, so if no candidate wins a majority, the lowest finishers are eliminated and their voters’ next choices are redistributed. That tabulation is scheduled for Nov. 18. Trump is instead demanding that all first-choice votes for two of those candidates go to Sullivan, regardless of how voters ranked their ballots. Sullivan’s own campaign has projected that he would narrowly win once ranked-choice votes are counted.
The “Fake Dan Sullivan” is Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher from Petersburg running with no party affiliation, who drew about 1.7% of the vote. The state Supreme Court upheld a ruling allowing him on the ballot. Trump’s “slug” appears to refer to Gerald Heikes, the race’s fourth candidate.
Sullivan Jr.’s candidacy has been controversial. The New York Times reported allegations that members of Peltola’s campaign were involved in recruiting him. Peltola has denied any involvement.
For weeks, Trump has insisted that having two Dan Sullivans on the ballot was unfair and illegal, claiming voters would be confused and that many don’t know what “incumbent” means. His administration took that argument to court. The Justice Department sued to block Alaska from certifying the result if Sullivan lost by fewer votes than his namesake received, and later asked that ballots ranking the second Sullivan be set aside.
On Nov. 1, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the suit, finding the government lacked standing and had failed to explain how it could set aside those ballots while protecting voter secrecy. The Justice Department appealed the same day.
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