Midterms: Namen bei Wahl zu ähnlich? Trump befiehlt Klage gegen Alaska
Ein abgekartetes Spiel der Demokraten oder doch reiner Zufall? Im nördlichsten US-Bundesstaat konkurrieren zwei Republikaner um einen Senatsposten. Nun hat sich der Präsident eingeschaltet.
In the weeks leading up to the U.S. midterm elections, President Donald Trump is said to have ordered a drastic intervention in the Alaska state elections. When asked about his stance on filing a lawsuit against Alaska due to the potential for confusion between two Republican candidates, Trump reportedly said, "I said do it!" Prior to this, the U.S. Department of Justice had filed a lawsuit against the state, claiming that there was a risk of confusion between the two Republican candidates, both named Sullivan, running for the state senate seat.
This was intended to prevent the election results from being finalized if Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan lost votes due to a name mix-up caused by his Republican challenger Dan J. Sullivan. Several politicians compete for a Senate seat in the competitive state of Alaska, including incumbent Dan S. Sullivan, Democrat Mary Peltola, and Republican challenger Dan J. Sullivan.
The Department of Justice accused the newcomer of having only one purpose for running: to undermine Peltola's campaign by reducing the number of votes for Senator Sullivan. He had only recently joined the Republicans and had adopted the same name, despite not using it "previously" in this abbreviated form. Confusion over names is not the first issue to be addressed by courts.
If Republican Senator Sullivan were to lose, the U.S. Department of Justice would demand that an investigation first determine if Sullivan would have received more votes on the ballot without his nearly identical counterpart as a challenger. This would be aimed at protecting the "integrity of the 2026 Senate election in Alaska."
It is not the first time a potential confusion issue has been the subject of legal contention. Earlier, the Alaska election administrator had attempted to remove challenger Sullivan from the ballot, but the state's Supreme Court ruled that Sullivan was eligible to run. Current Senator Dan S. Sullivan has represented the state since 2015.
Little is known about his challenger Dan J. Sullivan, who unlike the others has not given any campaign appearances.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
