What the court decided
A federal judge has thrown out a highly unusual Trump administration effort to block certification of results in a key U.S. Senate race in Alaska if the Republican incumbent loses, according to NPR. In a ruling released Sunday, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason found that the federal government does not have the ability to bring the lawsuit.
Justice Department attorneys had cited the preamble of the National Voter Registration Act in making their case. NPR reported that they are expected to appeal Gleason's ruling. Gleason was nominated to the bench by former President Barack Obama.
Why the lawsuit was filed
President Trump said he ordered the suit because two of the four Senate candidates on Alaska's ballot have similar names. One is Sen. Dan Sullivan, the Republican incumbent. The other is Daniel Sullivan Jr., who is not affiliated with a political party.
The name overlap has been a source of conflict for some time. Alaska's Republican Party supported an earlier effort in state court to keep Sullivan Jr. off the ballot. In June, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that Sullivan Jr. has the right to run.
Allegations and investigations
The court ruling did not end the broader dispute. NPR reported that Republican allegations that Democrats are propping up Sullivan Jr. to spoil the incumbent's chances have long hung over the closely watched contest. A New York Times report about Democratic campaign operatives' efforts to recruit Sullivan Jr. drew new attention to those claims. NPR said it has not independently confirmed that report.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, has ordered an investigation. He has indicated the state may not certify the results, depending on what the inquiry finds. "If we find out there's wrongdoing, and if that means that the certification then is stopped or changed, then that's what happens," Dunleavy said Friday in an interview with NewsNation.
At a press conference in Anchorage on Friday, U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman said the Justice Department has an "ongoing" criminal probe. The Democratic candidate, former Rep. Mary Peltola, has denied any involvement.
Reaction and what comes next
Headlines from other outlets that were included with NPR's report point to continuing political fallout. The Guardian's headline said Sullivan will accept the Alaska election results. An AP News headline described Sullivan as claiming Peltola is "still lying" about her campaign's involvement in the ballot controversy. The source material does not include the full text of those reports, so details of the statements are not available here.
The next step in the federal case is expected to be an appeal by the Justice Department. Separately, the state investigation ordered by Dunleavy and the federal criminal probe remain open. Dunleavy's comments suggest that questions about certification could persist beyond Gleason's ruling.
