Blanche says Trump is not trying to overturn Alaska Senate election results
Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the Trump administration's lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska's Senate race if Republican Dan Sullivan loses, saying the president is not trying to overturn state results.
Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday defended a Trump administration lawsuit that seeks to block certification of Alaska's Senate results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses his race, arguing that the legal challenge is a necessary step to avoid confusing voters in a closely watched midterm contest. Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," Blanche said President Donald Trump is not trying to overturn state election results "in any way, shape or form" on the eve of the Nov. 3 election.
The dispute centers on a second candidate on the ballot who shares Sullivan's name. Republicans fear that Dan Sullivan, a retired teacher and school administrator from the small fishing community of Petersburg, could draw votes away from the senator and tip the outcome toward Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman. Alaskan voters will see "Dan S. Sullivan" listed as a "registered Republican" and "incumbent" on their ballots, while "Daniel J. Sullivan Jr." will carry no party affiliation.
Blanche said the lawsuit was filed to "put guardrails in place" to preserve possible evidence of voter confusion at the polls. He framed the request narrowly, saying it does not ask officials to refuse certification outright. "It's not saying, 'Don't certify.' It's saying, 'If a court ultimately determines that it was decided because of confusion and not the will of the voters, then we do not think the states should certify,'" he told CBS's "Face the Nation," adding that he believed this approach was consistent with federal and Alaskan law. "We wish that we didn't have to do this. We hope for a resolution that works," Blanche said on CNN.
Critics have pushed back sharply. A day after the lawsuit was filed on Thursday, Peltola called it "just flagrant, flagrant corruption in my opinion" and a diversion tactic by Republicans. Alaska's other Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, also criticized the lawsuit in a social media post. Trump told reporters on Sunday that he believed the ballot was illegal because it was unfair, and that Sullivan should be identified to voters as the sitting senator. "At least let him use the name Sen. Dan Sullivan as opposed to incumbent, because a lot of people don't know what incumbent means," Trump said.
Blanche's role has drawn attention because he previously served as Trump's personal attorney before the president appointed him to lead the Justice Department, which filed the Alaska suit. He also defended Trump in his election interference case before voters returned Trump to a second White House term, which effectively ended the criminal prosecution. When CNN host Dana Bash asked whether Trump was laying the groundwork for election challenges similar to those before the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Blanche called the question "crazy." "We are not doing anything improper. We're not doing anything we're not allowed to do. And we have to let the process play out," he said, adding that the administration was not trying "to take over a state election in any way shape or form."
The Alaska contest is among the races that could determine control of the Senate, and it comes as both parties intensify their campaigns in the final days before Election Day. Trump and Vice President JD Vance have been rallying Republicans across the country, while former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris have campaigned for Democrats. Whether the lawsuit proceeds, and how a court ultimately treats the ballot naming question, will bear directly on how the Alaska Senate result is certified.
9
