Alaska Dispute: Trump demands votes for rival candidate go to incumbent
The President called the election 'crooked' and pointed to a fringe candidate in a tight Senate race as Democrats gained control of Congress.
By Harper Laurent ·
President Donald Trump stood in the Oval Office on Thursday and declared that American elections were 'crooked,' a sharp reversal from his earlier acceptance of the midterm results. Two days after voters handed the Democrats a sweeping victory, the President lashed out at what he described as a 'disgraceful' process, specifically targeting the ongoing count in Alaska.
The political shift is stark. Democrats now hold at least 54 Senate seats, surpassing the Republican tally of 44. In the House of Representatives, the Democratic majority surged past 250 seats on Thursday, securing the party's largest majority in nearly twenty years. This landslide victory represented a decisive rejection of the President and the Republican Party he has reshaped.
Trump's specific grievance centers on the Alaska Senate race, which remains undecided. Democrat Mary Peltola currently leads with 48.2 percent of the vote, while Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan trails at 47.9 percent. The President argued that votes cast for two minor candidates should be transferred directly to the incumbent Republican. One of these minor candidates is also named Dan Sullivan, a figure Republicans accuse of being a 'decoy' designed to split the vote. The other is Gerald Heikes, who is registered as a Republican.
In a post on Truth Social, the President referred to the fringe candidate as the 'Fake' Sullivan and stated that his votes, along with Heikes', 'should be immediately given to the REAL Dan Sullivan.' He concluded the post by insisting, 'There is no other fair solution!' The President had previously warned that he would use his veto power to block Democratic legislation, a threat that drew a strong response from Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
Schumer warned that if Trump spends the next year vetoing 'common sense legislation,' the 2026 election defeat will look minor compared to the consequences facing Republicans in 2028. He characterized the recent loss as an 'absolute Republican catastrophe on election night 2026.' This exchange highlights the escalating tension between the executive and legislative branches following the change in power.
Meanwhile, another potential upset is unfolding in Mississippi, one of the most reliably Republican states. Scott Colom, a 43-year-old Black candidate, appears poised to win a US Senate seat, defying strong expectations. As of Thursday afternoon, his lead over incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith had grown to 1,724 votes, with only a small number of ballots remaining to be counted. The final result may take days to certify.
If Colom secures the victory, he would become the first Democrat to win a Senate seat from Mississippi since 1982 and the first African American to hold the office since 1874. This result would join a wave of historic wins that broke long-standing racial and cultural barriers during this election cycle. In Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black female governor in the country. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed became the first Muslim member of the US Senate.
Other Democratic gains occurred in states where Republicans had long dominated. James Talarico won a Senate seat in Texas, breaking a 38-year streak for his party, while Adam Hamilton became the first Democratic senator from Kansas in 94 years. Warren Davidson, a Republican congressman from Ohio, attributed the party's losses to the President's recent conflicts with Iran and global trade wars. He stated that young voters in particular felt 'betrayed' by these decisions.
