Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-Alaska) said on Sunday that he would accept the results of the midterm elections if he’s defeated, coming in the midst of controversy surrounding allegations made against Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola and another candidate on the ballot with the same name as Sullivan.
Speaking to CNN, the Republican senator said he is “going to accept the election results,” when asked by host Jake Tapper about how he would respond if he doesn’t win the election.
Sullivan added later in the Nov. 1 interview: “And to all the Alaskans watching, get out there and vote. Don’t let this election be stolen.”
The incumbent Sullivan is running for the Senate seat against Peltola, Republican Gerald Heikes, and retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan in the state’s ranked-choice election. The state’s election agency says ranked-choice voting allows voters to rank their candidates in the order of preference.
The race between Peltola, Sullivan, and the others is among several Senate races that could determine whether Republicans or Democrats control the upper chamber after Nov. 3 midterm elections. Currently, the GOP has a 53–47 majority in the Senate, and a small majority in the House of Representatives.
The senator’s remarks came before a federal judge on Sunday dismissed a Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race if he loses to Peltola.
The presence of the other Dan Sullivan on the ballot had prompted the Trump administration to push for the lawsuit out of concern that he would siphon votes from the incumbent.
Shortly after the ruling, the DOJ filed a notice that it would appeal.
“Alaskan voters deserve a fair election, not to be misled in an attempt to rig outcomes,” a department spokesperson said in a statement.
The lawsuit, filed less than two weeks before the election and as early voting was underway, called for an investigation into whether votes for retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan were intended for the senator. The state said the case lacked merit and argued there would be no way to determine that without violating voter privacy.
U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason said the relief the federal government sought was not feasible because many voters have already cast their ballots in the early voting phase.
“More fundamentally, the United States provides no workable plan as to how it proposes to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan on Election Day and then conduct a court-ordered unspecified ‘investigation’ of those ballots in a manner that would preserve voter secrecy,” she wrote.
Last week, The New York Times reported that Peltola’s campaign and national Democrats allegedly sought to recruit a third-party candidate with the same name as Sen. Dan Sullivan, prompting state officials to launch investigations into her campaign.
Peltola has denied the allegations, saying last week that she “knew nothing about any other candidate on the ballot except for me and the incumbent.”
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said on Nov. 1, following the judge’s ruling, that the DOJ’s lawsuit lacked any legal basis.
“Today’s ruling is a victory for democracy and a clear message to Donald Trump and Senate Republicans: No one, no matter how powerful, can toss out free and fair elections just because they don’t like the result,” the statement said, adding that Democrats “are confident Alaska voters will elect Mary Peltola to the Senate.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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