Justice Department escalates criminal probe of Alaska Senate race after court rejects bid to delay certification

The Justice Department has sharply escalated a criminal investigation into Alaska's undecided U.S. Senate race, issuing more than 100 subpoenas and at least 20 target letters in the days around the Nov. 3 election, according to ABC News and The Associated Press. The surge in federal activity came two days after a U.S. district judge dismissed a separate Justice Department lawsuit that had sought to block Alaska from certifying the Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan lost.

The race between Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola, a former U.S. House member, remains too close to call more than three days after polls closed. Neither candidate has reached the majority needed to avoid a ranked-choice tabulation, with certification to follow later this month under Alaska's election calendar.

A grand jury and a flood of subpoenas

According to ABC News, prosecutors have issued the subpoenas and target letters, along with preservation notices, to people investigators believe were involved in an effort to recruit a second candidate named Sullivan onto the ballot. A federal grand jury empaneled in Alaska is examining possible conspiracy and donor-fraud-related offenses, sources told the network; a target letter signals that prosecutors have gathered evidence connecting a person to a possible crime, but does not mean charges will follow.

Recipients identified in reporting include Marc Elias, the Democratic election attorney, and leadership of his firm, the Elias Law Group, which represents both the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Peltola's campaign, along with at least one DSCC official. Elias responded publicly: "No one should be surprised that President Trump's Department of Justice is targeting me and my law firm on Election Day," he said, adding, "We will not be intimidated by a sham investigation." A Peltola campaign spokesperson separately used nearly identical language, calling the effort a "sham investigation" and denying any campaign involvement, according to Alaska's News Source.

U.S. Attorney for Alaska Michael Heyman told reporters at an Oct. 30 news conference that the investigation has been underway "for months" but did not specify which crimes are under scrutiny, saying only that "recent reporting has obviously resulted in troubling new revelations." Attorney General Todd Blanche, asked about the probe on Fox News on Election Day, declined to confirm details, but said further DOJ action could follow if Sullivan "narrowly loses," arguing that ranked-choice voting may have confused some voters.

The dispute over a second Dan Sullivan

The investigation centers on Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired Petersburg schoolteacher who ran against incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan under a nearly identical name. Alaska election officials first removed him from the primary ballot in June, citing voter-confusion concerns, but the Alaska Supreme Court ordered him reinstated that same month. He finished third in the Aug. 18 top-four primary with roughly 1.1% of the vote and advanced to the November general election under Alaska's top-four, ranked-choice system.

The New York Times reported in late October that people connected to Peltola's campaign and the DSCC had helped recruit Daniel J. Sullivan into the race, under a theory that voters intending to back the Republican incumbent might mistakenly rank the similarly named challenger instead, siphoning votes away from him. Peltola's campaign has denied any involvement in either Sullivan's candidacy, and Daniel J. Sullivan has said he entered the race on his own.

That report triggered two parallel government responses. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered the state's Department of Public Safety, through the Alaska Bureau of Investigation, to determine whether the recruitment effort violated state law, saying, "The evidence will determine what happens next," according to Alaska Public Media. Separately, the Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit, captioned United States v. State of Alaska (No. 3:26-cv-00376-SLG, D. Alaska), asking the court to let officials delay or block certification of the Senate results while investigating whether confused voters cost Sullivan the seat.

A judge's rebuke, two days before the vote

U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed that lawsuit on Nov. 1, in a case the court had already agreed to consider on an expedited basis after the state, the DSCC and Peltola's campaign all moved to dismiss it. Gleason found the government lacked Article III standing because it could not show how a court order could fix the harm it alleged without violating ballot secrecy.

"The absence of any explanation from the United States as to how its requested relief could redress its alleged injury while simultaneously maintaining the secrecy of the ballot is telling," Gleason wrote, adding that segregating and investigating certain ballots "would likely result in voter confusion."

The American Civil Liberties Union, which moved to intervene on behalf of two Alaska voters, the League of Women Voters of Alaska and Common Cause, had argued the National Voter Registration Act — the statute the DOJ's suit relied on — governs voter registration practices and has no bearing on candidate eligibility or certification. The Justice Department has since filed a notice of appeal, arguing the dismissal rested on procedural grounds and that the court did not dispute its characterization of Daniel J. Sullivan's candidacy.

Not everyone involved sees a legal violation. Alaska election attorney Scott Kendall said that, even if the facts reported by the Times are accurate, he does not see that Alaska election law was broken by recruiting a candidate who was legally entitled to run.

What is still unresolved

• The Senate race itself: too close to call, with overseas and absentee ballots still arriving and a ranked-choice tabulation to come before certification.
• The criminal investigation: a grand jury is active, but no charges have been filed against anyone as of Nov. 7.
• The DOJ's civil case: dismissed by the district court, but now on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
• The state inquiry: the Alaska Bureau of Investigation's review, ordered by Gov. Dunleavy, has not announced findings.

The outcome carries stakes beyond Alaska. The race is one of a handful nationally that will help determine the final partisan balance of the incoming Senate, and it has become a flashpoint in a broader argument between the parties over whether the Justice Department is being used to punish political opponents — a charge Elias and Democratic officials have leveled repeatedly, and one the department has not substantively addressed in public statements beyond defending the scope of its inquiry.

Both Sullivan and Peltola have said they will respect the eventual outcome. Sullivan has said publicly he will accept the results, win or lose. For now, the case moves forward on three separate tracks — a grand jury, an appeals court and Alaska's own ballot count — with no clear date for any of them to conclude.