Dan Sullivan Will Accept Results but Says 'Don't Let This Election Be Stolen'

Alaska Republican Senator Dan Sullivan told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday that he will accept the results of Tuesday's election whether or not he wins. A few seconds later, he signed off by telling Alaskans: "get out there and vote don't let this election be stolen."

The exchange on CNN's State of the Union came as the race against Democrat Mary Peltola nears its end in a dispute over who is on the ballot. On the same day, a federal judge dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit that sought to block certification if Sullivan lost and the votes cast for a second candidate named Dan Sullivan could have changed the outcome.

What Dan Sullivan Told Jake Tapper

The clip picks up partway through Tapper's question, so his full wording is not on the recording. The part that is reads: "Are you only going to accept the election results if you win."

"No I'm going to accept the election results," Sullivan replied.

Tapper then thanked him for joining. Sullivan closed with the get-out-the-vote line: "Thanks Jake and to all the Alaskans watching get out there and vote don't let this election be stolen."

Sullivan did not say the election was being stolen, and he did not explain the phrase in the clip.

The Two Dan Sullivans on Alaska's Ballot

A second Dan Sullivan is on the ballot. Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired teacher, is running in the same race as the incumbent, Dan S. Sullivan. The New York Times has reported that Peltola's campaign helped recruit him. Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee deny any involvement.

The Justice Department sued Alaska election officials, citing voter confusion. It asked a court to block certification if Sullivan lost, but only where redirecting the second Sullivan's votes to the senator would change the outcome under Alaska's ranked-choice voting system. Trump said, "I'm the one that said do it," and called the second Sullivan's candidacy "a disgrace." Peltola called the suit "the corruption AK is fed up with." Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski called it "wholly unnecessary."

U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason ruled on Sunday that the federal government had no standing to bring the case. She wrote that its requests "certainly involve the time, place, and manner of Alaska's election, which are the responsibilities of the State, not the executive branch of the federal government," CNBC reported. Senate Majority Leader John Thune had already said that if Sullivan lost by fewer votes than the second Sullivan received, it would be "a problem" that is "gonna have to be fixed".

How Other Republicans Have Answered

Sullivan's answer was more direct than his party's Senate campaign chief's. Asked twice on NBC's Meet the Press whether he would accept a Peltola win, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, did not give a direct answer. "Number one, Dan Sullivan, the real Dan Sullivan, will win. And number two, it actually is a federal offense to confuse voters," Scott said.

Dan Sullivan's Record on the 2020 Election

Sullivan has accepted a result he opposed before. In December 2020, after the Electoral College voted, he acknowledged Joe Biden as president-elect. He said his "oath and fidelity are to the Constitution and the laws of our nation, which include the orderly transfer of power."

A Close Race in Alaska

The race is close. Peltola leads Sullivan 47.6 percent to 44.2 percent in PolitiKool's polling average. A Data for Progress survey released October 20 had Peltola ahead 51 percent to 49 percent in the final round of Alaska's ranked-choice count and found the race had tightened since August. Overall control of the Senate remains a toss-up in PolitiKool's Senate forecast.