What’s going on with Dan Sullivan and Dan Sullivan? The Alaska Senate litigation, explained

President Donald Trump's administration has taken its first step to block the results of a midterm election, and it's all regarding the fact that there are two Dan Sullivans on the Alaska Senate ballot.

Key points

• That's why Republicans have been trying to obtain the second Dan Sullivan – hereafter known as Daniel J.
• Trump remarked Friday that he directed the Justice Department to file its lawsuit.
• The campaign is projected to be decided by only a few thousand votes, and it could determine which party controls the Senate.
• One of them is a Republican senator and ally of the president.

One of them is a Republican senator and ally of the president. The other is a retired schoolteacher whom Republicans accuse of being a Democratic plant to siphon away votes.

Trump remarked Friday that he directed the Justice Department to file its lawsuit. What is going on? Here's an explanation. Why is there a lawsuit over this?

In practice, the campaign is projected to be decided by only a few thousand votes, and it could determine which party controls the Senate. So the stakes are high, and Republicans worry that voters will obtain confused and accidentally vote for the wrong Sullivan.

That's why Republicans have been trying to obtain the second Dan Sullivan – hereafter known as Daniel J. Sullivan – thrown off the ballot for months. The lawsuit went all the way to the Alaska Supreme Court, but Republicans lost.

In short, whats going on with Dan Sullivan and Dan Sullivan? The Alaska Senate is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.