Trump claims Alaska race is ‘over’ with GOP candidate winning ‘a lot’ after ‘Decoy Dan’ scandal
WASHINGTON, DC: Still reeling from the loss of congressional control, Donald Trump has moved to call the fiercely contested Alaska Senate race before election officials have delivered a final verdict.
The 80-year-old President has spent the last few weeks fuming over the inclusion of "decoy" Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot, what he calls a Democratic ploy to divert votes from his favored candidate, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska).
Previously, Trump even directed the DOJ to file a lawsuit against the state of Alaska, seeking to block the state's election certification if incumbent Sullivan suffered a loss. This time, he went a step further, declaring Sullivan the winner despite the razor-thin margin and thousands of ballots still awaiting a final count.
Trump declares Alaska Senate race 'over' for Dan Sullivan
Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday, November 7, to declare that "Daniel Sullivan is leading substantially in the Alaska Senatorial Race."
🚨 BREAKING: President Trump declares Republican Dan Sullivan the FINAL VICTOR of the Alaska U.S. Senate race over Democrat Mary Peltola because the FRAUD candidates are enough to decide the race “I don’t know what takes so long to announce his win. This should be immediate!” “Daniel Sullivan is leading substantially in the Alaska Senatorial Race. When you add Daniel (3,600, 1.68%) into Dan, and Gerald Heikes (4,846, 2.27%), Senator Dan Sullivan is up by thousands of Votes. Remember, Heikes was also fraudulently put into the Race.” “Anyone voting for Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr., a man who tried to change his middle initial, but was unable to get it done in time, and who was otherwise nonpolitical – Never even voted – is a vote for Senator Dan Sullivan. The Alaska Race is OVER. Dan Sullivan WON, BY A LOT!” Don’t let them steal a seat. This would put GOP at 45 seats instead of 44.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 7, 2026
"When you add Daniel (3,600, 1.68%) into Dan, and Gerald Heikes (4,846, 2.27%), Senator Dan Sullivan is up by thousands of Votes," he continued before adding, "Remember, Heikes was also fraudulently put into the Race.”
“I don't know what takes so long to announce his win. This should be immediate! Anyone voting for Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr., a man who tried to change his middle initial, but was unable to get it done in time, and who was otherwise nonpolitical – Never even voted – is a vote for Senator Dan Sullivan. The Alaska Race is OVER. Dan Sullivan WON, BY A LOT!" Trump wrote.
Trump's declaration of victory was premature. As of Saturday, the Alaska Senate race had not been called, and Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) had not been declared the winner.
As of Saturday afternoon, Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) held a narrow lead over Sullivan, securing 48.17% of the vote compared with his 47.88%.
However, tens of thousands of ballots remained uncounted, according to Alaska Public Media, as state law allows absentee ballots to arrive even after Election Day.
Adding another layer of uncertainty, Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, under which a candidate must secure more than 50% of the vote to win outright. If no candidate reaches that threshold, second- and third-choice preferences are redistributed.
The ranked-choice tabulation is scheduled for November 18, meaning the outcome may remain undecided for another 11 days.
Trump's comments came days after he proposed that Sullivan should also get the votes people cast for minor candidates.
"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 wrote.
Mary Peltola's campaign sues Alaska over rejected ballots
Trump's declaration came just a day after Peltola's campaign sued Alaska to obtain access to records for absentee ballots that were rejected by the Alaska Division of Elections.
Peltola's campaign said it had previously requested records of the rejected ballots on multiple occasions but was denied access.
The lawsuit argued that the campaign could not ensure its voters' lawful votes were properly counted without knowing whose absentee ballots were rejected or questioned, and why.
"Plaintiff cannot ensure that its voters' lawful votes were properly counted without knowing whose absentee ballots were rejected or questioned, and why," the lawsuit reads.
“Each hour and each day that Defendants deny Plaintiff the requested records to which it is entitled costs Plaintiff the opportunity to help ensure that qualified voters have their ballots counted."
In a Friday statement, the Division pushed back, arguing that voters whose ballots had been rejected had not yet been given access to the relevant information and that the campaign should not receive access before they did.
"Alaska's constitution and laws do not require the Division to provide this information in the manner requested by the campaign. Releasing preliminary information in the manner sought by the lawsuit would create additional burdens during ballot processing and could delay the timely counting of votes," the release said.
