Obama Judge Kills DOJ Bid to Probe Alaska ‘Decoy Dan’ Scheme Just Two Days Before Election
An Obama-appointed federal judge threw out the Trump Justice Department’s lawsuit on Sunday aimed at stopping certification of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses because of votes siphoned by a same-named spoiler
U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason, named to the bench by Barack Obama, ruled the government lacked standing and offered no workable way to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan without shredding voter secrecy. She also called the request infeasible with early voting already well underway and Election Day just two days off.
The DOJ suit, filed at President Trump’s direction less than two weeks ago, targeted the presence of Daniel J. Sullivan—a retired teacher from Petersburg—on the ballot alongside Sen. Dan Sullivan. The department argued the second Sullivan entered the race to confuse voters and potentially flip a tight contest against Democrat Mary Peltola.
A New York Times report had detailed how operatives aligned with Peltola’s campaign helped recruit him. The complaint sought an investigation into voter intent and a hold on certifying any result the decoy could have swung.
Gleason shut it down on procedural grounds. She wrote that the United States provided “no workable plan” for segregating those ballots and then running an investigation while protecting the secret ballot. She added that ordering such a move would itself create confusion and keep people from the polls. Alaska election officials, backed by the GOP-led state government, had called the case meritless and said voters already had tools to tell the two candidates apart.
The DOJ immediately appealed, with a spokesperson stating that Alaskan voters “deserve a fair election, not to be misled in an attempt to rig outcomes.” The court dismissed the case on procedural grounds but did not dispute the core claim that Daniel J. Sullivan ran as a frivolous candidate to confuse voters.
This lands in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country, where control of the chamber could hang in the balance. Sen. Sullivan has said the second name on the ballot will cost him votes to “trickery.” Separate criminal and civil probes into the recruitment effort remain active. With ballots already cast and the clock ticking, the ruling leaves the alleged confusion scheme unaddressed before votes are counted.