A retired schoolteacher named Daniel J. Sullivan collected 3,600 Alaskan ballots this week, a figure more than five times the gap currently separating the state’s two major Senate candidates.
That margin, just 637 votes, has former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola clinging to a lead over incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan with roughly one quarter of Alaska’s ballots still uncounted.
The Justice Department launched an investigation into Daniel J. Sullivan back in July, after he entered the Alaska Senate race in May under circumstances that quickly drew scrutiny.
An October report from The New York Times found that Daniel J. Sullivan had met with Democratic operatives and members of Peltola’s campaign staff, who allegedly encouraged him to run as a spoiler candidate.
Peltola has denied any involvement in the scheme, though the episode has become central to post-election debate over the race’s legitimacy.
At least one voter who spoke to reporters after casting his ballot said the dual Sullivan names caused genuine confusion at the polls, stating, “I don’t remember seeing the other Dan Sullivan, I totally forgot to look for two Dan Sullivans. I definitely intended to vote for the real Dan Sullivan.”
Alaska’s ranked choice voting system means that if no candidate clears 50%, the lowest vote-getter is eliminated and those ballots are redistributed according to each voter’s next preference, a mechanism that could prove decisive in such a close contest.
President Donald Trump weighed in Thursday morning via Truth Social, arguing that the spoiler’s votes should be transferred directly to Sen. Sullivan: “The vote totals for the Fake Dan Sullivan, plus the other ‘slug’ that the Dems put on the Ballot, should be immediately given to the REAL Dan Sullivan, and the Election is over – He easily wins. There is no other fair solution! President DJT.”
Meanwhile, roughly 1,400 miles away, Mississippi’s Senate contest is heading toward its own legal showdown, with Democrat Scott Colom leading incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by just 1,138 votes out of more than 928,000 counted, at 95.6% reporting.
Secretary of State Michael Watson confirmed that approximately 3,600 mail-in ballots remain outstanding, while NBC News’ Decision Desk placed the total number of uncounted ballots at 45,000.
State law permits mail-in votes to be included if received within five business days of the election and postmarked no later than Election Day, meaning additional results could shift the outcome significantly.
Mississippi provides no formal recount mechanism, raising the prospect of a courtroom battle, with Colom telling reporters Wednesday that he had “an army of lawyers” standing by and declaring, “We will protect the process of this election, we’ll protect the integrity of this election.”
Hyde-Smith’s campaign manager Scott Monssen struck a confident tone in a statement to Mississippi Public Broadcasting, saying, “We remain confident that when every legally cast vote is fully and accurately counted, Mississippians will have reelected Cindy Hyde-Smith.”
Both races remain unresolved, with legal challenges and outstanding ballots ensuring that neither contest will reach a definitive conclusion for days, if not longer.
