Alaska Senate race: Trump weighs 'redo' as Peltola faces federal subpoenas

President Donald Trump said on November 2 that he would consider "redoing" Alaska's Senate election if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses to Democrat Mary Peltola, calling the presence of third-party candidate Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. on the ballot "a criminal act." Speaking on the New York Post's Pod Force One podcast, Trump said he would consult lawyers about redoing the results. He also attacked Peltola, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, claiming they plotted election fraud.

The same day, Trump posted on Truth Social calling Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. a "FAKE ALASKA CANDIDATE" who had "disappeared," suggesting he might have been "kidnapped" by "corrupt Democrat lawyers."

The Justice Department has issued at least three dozen subpoenas and document preservation requests to Peltola's campaign and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.'s campaign, a U.S. official confirmed. Separately, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy ordered a state investigation into whether Peltola's campaign violated Alaska law by recruiting a candidate with the same name as the incumbent.

Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. is a political independent and retired schoolteacher, according to public descriptions. Dan Sullivan is the incumbent Republican senator. Dunleavy is the Republican governor.

The episode tests the boundaries of democratic norms. A sitting president is openly floating the annulment of an election result while federal and state authorities launch probes into the opposing campaign. It raises questions about whether election outcomes can be overturned by political pressure rather than legal process, and whether the justice system is being used to target political opponents.

Democrats are favored to take the House, and the Senate is expected to be closer, with Democrats having a 65% chance of winning a Senate majority as of November 2, according to Decision Desk HQ.