U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) walks as she attends a press conference, held by Senate Republican leaders, following their weekly policy lunches on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 17, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has a blunt message for President Donald Trump’s Justice Department over its lawsuit in her home state’s Senate race: stay out of it.
“Alaskans don’t need any help voting for their preferred candidates, and the State of Alaska has already handled this by clearly distinguishing the candidates on this year’s ballot,” Murkowski wrote on X Friday. “The Department of Justice should never have filed this lawsuit."
She attached an Associated Press report headlined “Trump says he ordered the Justice Department’s lawsuit over Alaska’s US Senate race.”
The fight is over two candidates with nearly the same name. Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, Murkowski’s colleague and a Trump ally, is running for reelection against former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola. Also on the ballot is Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg who calls himself a moderate Republican.
Republicans have called Dan J. Sullivan a “ghost candidate” meant to confuse voters and pull support from the incumbent. Trump has called him an “imposter.” Peltola’s campaign and Alaska Democrats have denied any involvement, and Dan J. Sullivan has said the name was passed down from his father and grandfather.
Alaska’s top elections official first tried to keep him off the ballot, but state courts ordered him on, and the Alaska Supreme Court upheld that decision in June. The state then added “incumbent” next to Sen. Sullivan’s name to tell the two apart, which is the step Murkowski pointed to.
The FBI and federal prosecutors in Alaska had already been investigating whether anyone conspired to create the challenger’s campaign, NBC News reported over the summer.
Murkowski has broken with Trump many times, and she also voted to convict him at his second impeachment trial.
Alaskans don’t need any help voting for their preferred candidates, and the State of Alaska has already handled this by clearly distinguishing the candidates on this year’s ballot. The Department of Justice should never have filed this lawsuit.https://t.co/88tGvV0P8O
— Sen. Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski) October 24, 2026
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