President Donald Trump railed against Alaska’s “corrupt” ranked choice voting system, claiming it was the sole reason Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) secured reelection.
Trump directed the Department of Justice to file a lawsuit challenging Alaska’s election results next week if it is determined the race was affected by “voter confusion,” as the incumbent and a challenger share the same name. Murkowski has publicly denounced the DOJ’s lawsuit, emphasizing the state’s ability to handle its elections.
“The Republicans’ Worst Senator, by far, Lisa Murkowski, of the Great State of Alaska (A State for which I produced, on a continuing basis, Billions and Billions of Dollars, and which Crooked Joe Biden and the Dumocrats had totally shut down — Then I came back, and delivered even more!), who only got elected because of Corrupt Ranked Choice Voting, is upset because I revealed what everyone knows, that the Ranked Choice Voting Ballot is a TOTAL DEMOCRAT SCAM meant to confuse the Voter, so that Senator Dan Sullivan will lose Votes to a man who has never participated in Politics before, named Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sunday.
“He is only there because the Democrats want to steal the Election, and Murkowski probably wants that to happen, which is why she is against the DOJ filing a Lawsuit in order to stop this impending crime and tragedy,” he continued. “I have delivered for Alaska at Historic Levels, nobody has ever seen anything like it, and all I’m asking for is a FAIR AND HONEST SENATORIAL ELECTION! Lisa Murkowski is a DISGRACE to Alaska and our Country.”
Incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-AK) is running for reelection in a toss-up race against Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola. The race, which is already at single-digit margins in polling between Sullivan and Peltola, is further complicated by a second Dan Sullivan, former Forest Service employee Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., who is also on the ballot.
Trump then made another post targeting Murkowski, claiming the state’s ranked choice system has hindered voters’ ability to oust Murkowski.
“They’ve been trying to get rid of Lisa Murkowski forever in Alaska, then she came up with the Ranked Choice Voting SCAM, and pulled a nice hot iron out of the fire,” Trump said. “Everyone thought she came in second or third, but then she ‘won.’”
TRUMP SAYS HE PERSONALLY ORDERED DOJ LAWSUIT INTERVENING IN ALASKA SENATE ELECTION
Alaska utilizes a top-four primary, in which the four highest vote-getters from the August primary advance to the general election. Voters can rank up to four candidates. The person with the fewest votes after each round is eliminated, with ballots reapportioned or exhausted until the winner clears 50%.
In the 2026 elections, Alaskans are voting on a ballot measure to repeal ranked choice voting. Trump has expressed his displeasure with the system on multiple occasions and encouraged the state to vote “yes” to move away from the system.