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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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Democrat Mary Peltola's lead in the Alaska Senate race is now greater than the combined number of votes for Republican rival Sen. Dan Sullivan and a second candidate of the same name, whose candidacy in the election is hotly disputed.
As of early Wednesday, with 84 percent of votes counted, Peltola has amassed 118,926 - or 49 percent - of all votes, while Sullivan is second with 114,676 - or 47.2 percent - of all votes.
Gerald Heikes, a drywall contractor who has repeatedly run for public office, is third with 5,318 - or 2.2 percent - of the total vote. Meanwhile, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. is last, with 4,027 - or 1.7 percent - of votes counted.
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Peltola's lead of 4,250 votes over incumbent Sullivan is the largest she has held so far, and more than the number of votes cast for Sullivan Jr.
Sullivan Jr.’s presence on the ballot has been repeatedly contested by President Donald Trump, who last month ordered the Department of Justice to file a lawsuit seeking to block the certification of the race’s results if the number of votes cast for Sullivan Jr. could have changed the outcome. The lawsuit was thrown out by a federal judge on November 1, but this has not quelled the president’s protests.
On Tuesday, Trump called the Alaska Senate race a “rigged election,” claiming that adding up the votes cast for Sullivan Jr. to those received by Sullivan would give the Republican senator a victory “by thousands of votes.”
He wrote on Truth Social: “All votes going to the Fake Dan Sullivan, which was done solely for the purpose of fraud and confusion, should immediately be given to the Real Dan Sullivan (Senator!) - Likewise the votes of the second fraudulent candidate, also put up by the Dems.”
Newsweek contacted campaign teams for Peltola, Sullivan, and Sullivan Jr. for comment by email on Wednesday morning, outside of standard working hours.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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