Attorneys for Alaska say 'meritless' Trump demand to set aside Senate ballots 'not even possible'

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska's Republican-run state government on Saturday urged a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed at President Donald Trump's direction to stop the certification of a possible Democratic win in that state's pivotal U.S. Senate race, writing that there is “no reason for this Court to entertain this meritless lawsuit any longer.”

The scathing filing from the state's attorney general's office comes as U.S. District Court Judge Sharon L. Gleason set a deadline of Saturday for arguments over whether she should dismiss the lawsuit without even a hearing. The complaint from the U.S. Department of Justice has been roundly criticized by election law experts and demands that the judge halt certification of a possible win by Democrat Mary Peltola until it is determined whether voters were confused by the presence of a second candidate on the ballot with the same name as her main rival, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

The Department of Justice on Friday added a request that the judge separate all ballots showing votes for the second Dan Sullivan until it can be determined whether voters were fooled into wasting their votes for a spoiler candidate. In its Saturday filing, Alaska said this was "both disturbing and impossible.” It added there would be no way to do that without violating voter privacy.

Trump also demanded that Peltola be prosecuted after The New York Times this week reported that internal texts and posts appear to show the Democrats' campaign was involved in recruiting the second Sullivan, a retired school teacher in the remote fishing village of Petersburg, onto the ballot. But the state filing notes that the two Sullivans are distinguished from each other on the ballot — the senator is listed as a Republican and the incumbent, while the other simply as “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.”

“State officials carefully designed the ballot to minimize voter confusion,” Alaska officials wrote. “The Court should immediately dismiss this lawsuit with prejudice and allow state officials to conduct the general election — including ballot counting and certification — free from unwarranted federal interference.”

The Trump administration argued that a preamble to the 1990s law governing voter registration gave it the responsibility for ensuring states maintained the “integrity” of federal elections. It has said it’s simply trying to combat fraud by preventing the Democrat from being declared the victor in a race that could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.

The Department of Justice issued a wave of subpoenas and announced it was conducting a criminal investigation in the case as the administration has stepped up its use of its legal powers to support Trump's side in the midterm election.

Peltola has denied involvement in the presence of the second Sullivan on the ballot. The Times report was based on interviews with her former campaign manager, texts and contributions from a political group backing Peltola to an out-of-state Democratic consultant who recruited the second Sullivan.

Alaska’s Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, who announced a state probe into the situation after the Times story, has condemned the placement of the second Sullivan on the ballot. The Alaska Supreme Court ruled this summer that the second candidate fulfilled all legal requirements to stay on. The state government’s filing on Saturday says that the new revelations about the possible role of Peltola’s campaign don’t change the fact that he’s legally on the ballot.

“Not every wrong can be righted in federal court,” the state wrote.

Peltola's campaign and voting rights groups also have urged Gleason to dismiss the case, putting them in unusual alignment with Alaska state officials.

“Imagine if the federal executive could pluck a few words like ‘election integrity’ from some statutory preamble and, on that basis alone, bend the machinery of state elections to his will, preemptively blocking certification of a U.S. Senate election to protect his preferred candidate from defeat and then subjecting voters to a law-enforcement-led inquest about who they ‘really’ supported,” the American Civil Liberties Union wrote in a filing urging the lawsuit's dismissal. “Imagine that world and ask whether it is what the Framers wanted or precisely what they most feared.”

Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola speaks during a campaign event Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Chloe Anderson)

FILE - Dan J. Sullivan, a candidate in Alaska's U.S. Senate race who shares a name with the incumbent seeking reelection, talks in front of a welcome sign near downtown Petersburg, Alaska, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

TOMARATA, New Zealand (AP) — Fifa Laopakdee of Thailand became the second player to win back-to-back in the Asia-Pacific Amateur with another Sunday comeback, this time without having to win in a playoff. He closed with a 1-under 70 for a three-shot victory.

That sends Laopakdee back to Augusta National in April for the Masters, along with a return trip to the British Open next summer at St. Andrews.

The 21-year-old Thai said he exchanged phone numbers at the last Masters with Justin Rose, who promised him a practice round if Laopakdee made it back.

“Rosey, see you at a practice round for the Masters,” Laopakdee said with a wide smile.

Laopakdee, three shots behind with 10 holes to play at Te Arai Links, flipped the script in one hole when he hit his approach just over the false front to 7 feet for a birdie on No. 11, and Zack Swanwick of New Zealand shockingly took a triple bogey.

That four-shot swing took Laopakdee form a two-shot deficit to a two-shot lead, and the Arizona State senior didn't give Swanwick much of a chance to catch him.

Laopakdee effectively ended it with a wedge to 4 feet on the par-3 17th for one final birdie, stretching his lead to four shots. Swanwick, who began the final round with a two-shot lead over Laopakdee and Cooper Moore, didn't make a birdie until the par-5 closing hole. He shot 75.

Laopakdee joined Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama as the only players to win consecutive years since the Asia-Pacific Amateur began in 2009.

He repeatedly shook his fists when he tapped in for par on the 18th to finish at 6-under 278 at the wind-blown seaside course about an hour north of Auckland.

It was a tough ending for Swanwick, trying to become the first Kiwi to win the Asia-Pacific Amateur in front of a home crowd, in a year when New Zealand celebrated another major champion in Ryan Fox at Royal Birkdale.

Swanwick, a junior at Florida, had a two-shot lead going to the 11th hole when his 6-iron was a little strong and went into a back bunker. His shot came out a fraction too strong, rolled past the pin and then off the false front into a deep swale. His chip-and-run up the slope came back to his feet. The next chip barely stayed on the green and he missed then 8-foot putt to take triple bogey.

“Middle of the green, make par and get out of there,” Swanwick said. “I hit into the bunker, just flew the bunker shot a little too far and got a little too cute with the chip. Just had a few mistakes that cost me.”

Swanwick looked he might get it back on the par-5 13th into the wind. His second shot came up short and he pitched to 10 feet for a chance at birdie. Laopakdee drove into a sandy area, and only advanced the ball some 40 yards into more sand. He laid up, then hit wedge to 20 feet.

Laopakdee rolled in the long par putt, and Swanwick missed his birdie. Instead of a chance to tie for the lead, the Kiwi was still two behind. And on the short par-4 14th, Swanwick drilled driver onto the green, some 70 feet away. He rolled a putt over the ridge to about 8 feet, missed the birdie putt and the missed the 4-foot par putt. The four-putt bogey sent him three behind.

“It was tough luck for Zack on 11, it was super windy,” Laopakdee said. “I somehow hit a great second shot and made birdie and it created huge momentum for me.”

Kayun Mudadana of Australia closed with a 67 and finished alone in third at 2-under 282. Moore birdied the last hole for 75 and was another shot back. Only four players finished under par.

A year ago in Dubai, Laopakdee rallied from a six-shot deficit in the final round and won the Asia-Pacific on the third playoff hole.

Laopakdee, at No. 31 in the world amateur ranking, won the Desimone Invitational in early March at Lake Merced in San Francisco. But the rest of the year was a disappointment until Sunday.

“This is one of the last events of the year, and I wanted to prove to myself that I've still got it,” he said. “To pull it off, it means the whole world to me.”

See AP’s full golf coverage here

FILE -Fifa Laopakdee, of Thailand, walks to green on the second hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)