Senator Dan S. Sullivan is seeking re-election against former US Representative Mary Peltola in a ranked-choice general election on 3 November 2026. A retired Petersburg teacher, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., also filed and was removed from the ballot by state election officials, then restored by Alaska's courts. A Justice Department lawsuit seeking to hold up certification was dismissed on 1 November and appealed, and federal and state investigations into how his candidacy came about are under way.
As of 2 November 2026 four candidates are on the general election ballot: Mary Peltola, Dan S. Sullivan, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. and Gerald Heikes. The Justice Department's suit was dismissed without prejudice on 1 November and the department filed a notice of appeal. No appellate ruling was found. A federal criminal investigation and a state inquiry continue, and no one has been charged.
Main story: 16 May 2026 to 1 November 2026. The full timeline also includes labelled context or related events.
23 events shown
Former US Representative Mary Peltola announced a run for the US Senate seat held by Senator Dan S. Sullivan, Alaska Public Media reported. Peltola had lost her House seat in 2024 to Nick Begich III. Senator Lisa Murkowski endorsed Sullivan.
Senator Dan S. Sullivan filed his declaration of candidacy for the 2026 Senate election on 16 May, according to the Justice Department's complaint and Judge Sharon Gleason's later order.
A filing records a party's position. It is not by itself a finding.
Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher from Petersburg, filed to run for the Senate on 29 May, the federal court record states. The complaint says he had never run for office before. According to the complaint, he asked to appear as Dan Sullivan and to be listed as a Republican. He told the Associated Press the decision to run was his own and that he had no contact with the Peltola campaign.
Associated Press (via PBS NewsHour)NTDA filing records a party's position. It is not by itself a finding.
Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom, who oversees Alaska elections, announced an investigation into the challenger's declaration of candidacy late on 8 June, the Associated Press and NTD reported. Senator Sullivan accused the challenger of trying to trick voters to help Peltola. The Peltola campaign, the Alaska Democratic Party and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee denied any involvement, AP reported.
An investigation does not by itself establish wrongdoing.
Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher ruled that the challenger's declaration of candidacy was not made in good faith and was filed to confuse or mislead voters, and decertified him. The complaints that led to the ruling came from the state Republican Party and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Alaska Public Media reported. Beecher cited his registration as a Republican two days before filing, his request to appear as Dan Sullivan and a website resembling the senator's, according to the federal court record. The challenger told Alaska Public Media he was considering his options.
Anchorage Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews ruled in the challenger's appeal, Sullivan v. State, Division of Elections, that the division had wrongly removed him. He found the decision rested on a new good-faith criterion not found in the constitution or state law and that the claim he meant to mislead voters was not supported by a preponderance of the evidence, Alaska Public Media and the federal court record state.
Hours after oral argument on the state's appeal, the Alaska Supreme Court summarily affirmed the Superior Court and ordered the division to list the challenger on the primary ballot, saying a full opinion would follow. It left to the division how to list him within existing ballot design law, the Alaska Beacon and the federal court record state. Questioning the division's lawyer, Justice Aimee Oravec said the division controls the ballot.
Sixteen candidates were on the Senate primary ballot, according to the Division of Elections. In the certified results recited by the federal court, Peltola received 49.54 percent, Senator Sullivan 41.40 percent and the challenger, listed as Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr. with no party, 2.47 percent. Under Alaska's system the top four finishers advance to a ranked-choice general election.
The division certified the primary results on 31 August, the federal court record states. The same day, hours before the withdrawal deadline, the challenger said he would stay in the race. Fourth-place finisher David Leslie withdrew, which moved fifth-place Gerald Heikes onto the November ballot, the Alaska Beacon reported.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
The Justice Department sued the State of Alaska, Director Beecher and the state's election boards in the US District Court for the District of Alaska under the National Voter Registration Act. It asked the court to bar certification of any result that may be impacted by voter confusion, pending an investigation into whether votes cast for the challenger were meant for the senator. The complaint was signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. and an assistant US attorney.
A filing records a party's position. It is not by itself a finding.
President Donald Trump told reporters he had told the department to file the suit, the Associated Press reported. Peltola called it corruption. Senator Murkowski wrote that the department should never have filed it. Senator Sullivan's campaign said it would let the complaint run its course.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
After moving to intervene on 23 October, the Peltola campaign committee Alaskans for Mary and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee filed a proposed motion to dismiss the suit late on 25 October, Reuters and the court filing list show. Attorney General Todd Blanche told CNN the suit aimed to find out whether voter confusion broke the law, Reuters reported.
A filing records a party's position. It is not by itself a finding.
The state's election officials, represented by the Alaska Department of Law, moved to dismiss the suit, arguing it had no legal basis and that investigating voter intent would violate the secret ballot, Alaska Public Media reported. The filing list kept by Democracy Docket dates the motion 26 October and shows the court granted the state's request for expedited consideration on 27 October. The League of Women Voters of Alaska, Common Cause and two voters had sought to intervene on 23 October.
A filing records a party's position. It is not by itself a finding.
Division of Elections records show the challenger changed his registration from Republican to undeclared when he requested a primary absentee ballot, the Alaska Beacon reported on the evening of 26 October. He appears on the general ballot as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. with no party label, while the senator is listed as Dan S. Sullivan (Registered Republican) Incumbent, the Beacon and the federal court record state.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
The New York Times reported that text messages among members of the Peltola campaign, with Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee staff on some of them, discussed recruiting candidates named Dan Sullivan and that the campaign settled on the Petersburg man, the Associated Press and Alaska Public Media reported. Alaska Public Media said it had not independently confirmed the report. AP said the report drew partly on interviews with former campaign manager Elisa Rios, who was fired in August and, the Times said, later tried to retract her comments. AP could not immediately reach her. The Peltola campaign said it had no involvement with either Sullivan campaign, the DSCC said it was not involved with him, and the challenger has long denied running at Democrats' behest, AP reported.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
Senator Sullivan's campaign accused Peltola and her advisers of colluding to recruit candidates to confuse voters. Trump called for Peltola's removal from the ballot and prosecution. Peltola told a Juneau audience on 29 October that she knew nothing about any other candidate except herself and the incumbent, the Associated Press reported. No one has been charged.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
The court granted the intervention motions on 28 October after the department withdrew its opposition to the Peltola campaign and DSCC motion. On 29 October the department filed an amended complaint adding a Supremacy Clause claim, and on 30 October it sought expedited discovery and a preliminary injunction, according to the federal order and the filing list.
A filing records a party's position. It is not by itself a finding.
By 29 October Governor Mike Dunleavy had ordered a state investigation, saying the Times reporting showed an organised effort to confuse voters, the Associated Press reported. The governor's statement was an allegation, not a finding of wrongdoing.
An investigation does not by itself establish wrongdoing.
Michael Heyman, the US attorney for Alaska, confirmed at a press conference a criminal investigation that he said had been under way for months. He did not name the crimes under examination and said he was making no assumptions about whether a crime had been committed, Yahoo News and Alaska Public Media reported. AP reported FBI contact with donors. No one has been charged.
An investigation does not by itself establish wrongdoing.
The state and the intervenors filed replies supporting dismissal. The state called the suit meritless and the request to segregate ballots disturbing and impossible, Yahoo News reported. A Department of Law spokesperson said the Times report had no impact on the litigation.
A filing records a party's position. It is not by itself a finding.
US District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the suit without prejudice for lack of Article III standing, finding the relief sought could not redress the claimed injury. Ballots already cast were commingled, and she said the government offered no workable plan to separate them while keeping votes secret. She also cited the Purcell principle, did not rule on the merits of either claim, denied leave to amend and denied the injunction motion as moot.
Associated Press (via ABC7 San Francisco)Yahoo NewsAlaska Public MediaThe department filed a notice that it intends to appeal the dismissal orders, signed by Associate Attorney General Woodward and an assistant US attorney. A spokesperson said the judge ruled on procedural grounds, AP reported. The DSCC called the ruling a victory for democracy.
Associated Press (via ABC7 San Francisco)A filing records a party's position. It is not by itself a finding.
On CNN, Senator Sullivan said he expected to lose a lot of votes to what he called trickery, AP reported, and disputed Peltola's account that she did not know of her aides' involvement. Asked about certification, he said he would accept the results, Yahoo News reported.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
Associated Press (via PBS NewsHour) · pbs.org Associated Press (via ABC7 San Francisco) · abc7news.com
Associated Press via ABC News · abcnews.comCoverage through 1 November 2026. Editorial review: 2 November 2026. Spotted an error? See corrections. Copyright concerns: report an asset. Every event links to its sources. Source type does not establish whether a claim is true.