The Trump Justice Department filed suit Thursday to block certification of Alaska's U.S. Senate election if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses and the margin is smaller than the votes collected by another candidate on the ballot who shares his name — setting up a federal-state clash over who controls election results.

The stakes are straightforward: if Democrat Mary Peltola wins narrowly, the federal government is asking a judge to prevent the state from certifying her victory. That's an unprecedented DOJ intervention into a state-run election, and it hinges on whether a second candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. is a deliberate spoiler or just a citizen exercising his right to run.

The lawsuit, filed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, argues that the junior Sullivan's candidacy is a ruse designed to siphon votes from the incumbent. "Given the substantial likelihood that the inclusion of Dan J. Sullivan will confuse or mislead voters looking to cast a vote for Senator Sullivan and thus distort the will of Alaskan voters, there is a substantial likelihood that a certification of the election will reflect an electoral process that lacked integrity," the filing states.

DOJ is asking the court to bar certification if Sen. Sullivan loses and the margin is smaller than the votes the other Sullivan receives. The suit demands the state not certify results "tainted by the inclusion on the ballot of Daniel J. Sullivan."

There is evidence backing the confusion concern. Alaska's Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher found in August that the junior Sullivan's candidacy "was not filed in order to declare an actual good-faith candidacy" but rather to confuse voters. According to the Daily Caller, campaign metadata showed Democratic operative Amber Lee authored the other Sullivan's press release when he launched his bid in June. Lee has publicly supported Peltola. FEC records show the junior Sullivan has donated $650 to Democrats, including Peltola. Peltola visited Petersburg — the other Sullivan's hometown — days before he filed to run, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

The junior Sullivan has denied being a plant. "I wouldn't even know who to speak to" in Peltola's campaign, he told the Petersburg Pilot. In a separate interview with Courthouse News, he said it is his "sincere hope that people know who and what they are voting for but ultimately, choice is good."

Alaska courts have already ruled on this. Election officials booted him from the ballot in June; a Superior Court judge put him back on; the Alaska Supreme Court ultimately allowed him to remain. The November ballot differentiates the two: the senator is listed as "Dan S. Sullivan" with "registered Republican" and "incumbent" beside his name, while the challenger appears as "Daniel J. Sullivan" with no party designation. Alaska's ranked-choice voting system also lets voters rank both men if they choose.

In the August all-party primary, the junior Sullivan finished third with 2.5% of the vote. Peltola took 49.5% and Sen. Sullivan 41.4%.

Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters Thursday that "it is not DOJ's intention to — and it's never our intention to — improperly interfere with elections or the state confirmation process or certification process." But he added: "To say that there's no circumstances that we would ever do that. Of course, I'm not going to say that."

Legal experts are skeptical DOJ has the authority. Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller told the AP the lawsuit "will likely only kick in if Republicans narrowly lose" and "does not seem to have legal merit." Justin Levitt, an Obama-era Justice Department official, told NBC News there is no law that lets DOJ challenge ballots or delay certification. The Constitution gives states primary authority over elections; DOJ's role is limited to civil rights enforcement and prosecuting election law violations.

President Trump called the second Sullivan's candidacy a "scam" and said his administration was looking at "powerful legal options."

NBC framed the lawsuit as an effort to block results "unless" Sullivan wins. WIS10 led with the fear of a "lengthy battle between the U.S. government and states." The Daily Caller focused on the metadata tying a Democratic operative to the junior Sullivan's campaign. Breitbart noted the rarity of the move and raised questions about the administration's willingness to accept defeat. BBC was the most neutral, presenting the claims and the other Sullivan's denials in equal measure.

The open question: if a same-name candidate is genuinely a spoiler operation, the courts have already said that's not enough to remove him. Whether the federal government can override state certification anyway is a fight nobody has tested before — and the answer will shape who controls election outcomes going forward.