Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan acknowledges President-elect Joe Biden’s win

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan on Monday acknowledged the results of the presidential election, saying Joe Biden won.

“In accordance with the Constitution and federal law, the Electoral College met today and the electors cast their ballots, determining that former Vice President Joe Biden is now the president-elect,” the Alaska Republican said in a statement.

Sullivan’s comments come hours after the Electoral College votes were certified and about a month after his fellow delegation members, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young, said they believed Biden won.

“This is not the result that I, and the majority of Alaska voters who supported President Trump, had hoped for,” Sullivan said in the statement. “But ultimately as a U.S. Senator, my oath and fidelity are to the Constitution and the laws of our nation, which include the orderly transfer of power—one of the most sacred elements of our great constitutional republic—and the Electoral College process that took place today.”

Murkowski issued a statement Monday congratulating Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and thanking President Donald Trump for his time in the White House.

“On behalf of Alaska, I am grateful for their diligent work on our behalf,” Murkowski said of the Trump administration.

“As the Biden administration begins their time in office, we are grappling with the ongoing pandemic, working to revitalize our economy, striving to address social justice issues, and tackling a number of challenging policy initiatives. Now, more than ever, is the time for us to come together as a nation—to put differences aside move forward for the benefit of the American people,” Murkowski said.

The tradition of concession by the losing candidate — common through U.S. history — was upended in 2020 after President Donald Trump falsely claimed he won the election, and spread conspiracy theories of widespread election fraud.

Congressional Republicans throughout the country backed Trump’s efforts more than a month after the election. In mid-November, Sullivan said Trump should be allowed to make his case in court.

Trump filed several lawsuits which were dismissed for being baseless. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected two lawsuits challenging the election results.

On Thursday, Acting Alaska Attorney General Ed Sniffen sent a letter to the U.S. Supreme Court requesting to add Alaska to a list of states that had signed on to a lawsuit filed by Texas which challenged the results in four other states. The lawsuit was rejected the next day.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has yet to state that he believes Trump lost the election, and last week said there is an “outside chance” Biden won.

On Monday, Biden was formally elected as president, getting 306 electoral votes. Trump received 232 electoral votes.