TOI Correspondent from Washington: The United States may be heading for a “Kannur moment” in Alaska leading to a potential political and legislative gridlock in next Tuesday’s midterm elections. Amid allegations that Democrats have sponsored a candidate with the same name as the Republican incumbent in the state’s Senate race to confuse the voters — a practice all too common in India — fears are growing that President Trump may use the controversy to question the legitimacy of the entire election process, something he has done often.The name Dan Sullivan has leapt into the headlines after it was reported that Democratic operatives scouted the state for someone with that name who could complicate the electoral prospects of incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. They eventually found a retired schoolteacher with that name from a small fishing village, who now insists that he is entitled to run, even as President Trump has jumped into the fracas. He has called for the Democratic candidate Mary Peltola to withdraw from the race and face prosecution. Alaska’s Supreme Court ordered the schoolteacher be allowed on the ballot after election officials initially disqualified him.For Indian readers, the controversy would have a familiar ring, most notably stemming from the 2014 Lok Sabha election in Kannur where Congress candidate K. Sudhakaran lost by just 6,566 votes, while two candidates bearing similar names, K. Sudhakaran Sreesai and K. Sudhakaran Kollod, polled more than 7,100 votes. Congress supporters argued that the namesakes had cost their candidate the election. Whether all those votes would otherwise have gone to him is difficult to establish, but the arithmetic illustrates how a seemingly marginal candidacy can matter in a close contest.This is as likely in Alaska, which is among the least populated American states with only around 600,000 voters, but still elects two senators; same as populous states like California, which has 23 million voters. Polls show the Democrat Peltola virtually deadlocked with the Republican incumbent Sullivan, and even couple hundred votes could change the outcome.Clearly anticipating defeat, Trump has already directed the Department of Justice to preemptively contest a potential Republican loss in the race. The department is also demanding a court hold up certification of a possible Democratic win until it’s determined whether voters were confused by having two candidates with the same name on the ballot. Separately, responding to a case brought by the civil rights organization NAACP, which advocates for racial justice and rights for Black Americans, the department said agents and employees from the FBI and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will not be serving as monitors, amid growing unease about potential federal and MAGA to swing the elections, which are largely a state subject in America.Indeed, the stakes are considerably larger than one seat or one senator’s political survival in one state. With Republicans holding a 53-47 majority in the Senate, Democrats need a net gain of four seats to seize control. The seven close Senate contests attracting particular attention include Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Texas. That makes every competitive race important, even one in a state whose electorate is smaller than a small Indian town. If Dems also capture the House of Representatives, as polls strongly indicate they will, Trump could find himself a lame-duck president with his legislative agenda stalled, although he would still wield some veto powers.Still, the loss of both chambers would be devastating for Trump. A Democratic Senate would bring additional oversight and the power to set committee agendas, scrutinise executive-branch conduct, and complicate confirmation proceedings for presidential nominees, while a Democratic-controlled House could also block Republican bills, scrutinise federal spending, and launch investigations into administration decisions. Its committees could issue subpoenas for documents and testimony.
