A-G Blanche Pushes Back On CNN Over Alaska Certification

Attorney General Todd Blanche and CNN anchor Dana Bash sparred Sunday over a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to prevent certification of Alaska’s Senate election if Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan loses and votes for an independent candidate with a nearly identical name could have changed the result.

On the Oct. 25 “State of the Union,” Bash challenged Blanche after he said the independent candidate existed only to draw votes from the senator. When she asked what the crime was, Blanche replied that there “could be a crime,” but the core problem is that “Alaskans are gonna be confused and will not have their vote heard.” The lawsuit asks a federal judge to hold up certification solely if Sen. Sullivan is defeated and the other candidate’s votes prove decisive.

Sen. Sullivan, running for a third term, faces Democrat Mary Peltola in a race the Cook Political Report rates a toss-up—one of seven such contests in states Trump won in 2024. Polls show Sullivan trailing. The third candidate, retired teacher Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., is running with no party affiliation after switching registration between the primary and general election; he took 2.5% in the August primary. Alaska election officials removed him in June for not running in good faith, but state courts put him back on the ballot.

Bash cited the Alaska Supreme Court’s ruling and the first clause of Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution, which leaves election rules primarily to the states. Blanche said she omitted the second clause, which allows Congress to “at any time by Law” regulate those elections, and said the department is relying on such a law. “We should not have a candidate who has to worry about another candidate being on the ballot for no other reason to confuse voters,” he said.

CNN's Dana Bash asked Attorney General Todd Blanche this morning whether President Trump is laying the groundwork to overturn the election, and warned it could end in "what we saw after January 6." Blanche: "You've got to stop it with that." Here's the case they were actually talking about. Alaska's Senate ballot has two Dan Sullivans: Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher who told The New York Times he voted for the Democrat in each of the last three presidential races. In June, Alaska's own Division of Elections ruled his run wasn't in good faith and removed him. State courts put him back on. He got 2.5% in the August primary. The Justice Department's lawsuit asks a federal judge to hold up certification only if the senator loses and the other Sullivan's votes could have changed the result. You can debate the lawsuit. But two Dan Sullivans on one ballot is a real problem that Alaska's own election officials flagged in June. Jumping to January 6 is a way to avoid talking about it. Video: CNN | via @atrupar https://t.co/kIiVJ5y3ZY

— David Pollack (@DavidPollackUSA) October 25, 2026

Bash later asked whether the administration was laying the groundwork in Alaska or elsewhere for an effort to overturn the election reminiscent of Jan. 6. Blanche dismissed the question as “crazy” and “not a real question,” saying the goal was simply to stop fraud and voter confusion.