Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola (D) on Friday condemned the Justice Department's lawsuit seeking to block the state from certifying its election results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses, calling the legal move a “frivolous” and “desperate attempt to cling to power.”
“This is clearly corruption. This is clearly a very desperate attempt to cling to power, using his allies in Washington, D.C. to rig the system even further,” Peltola, a former congresswoman, told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace.
The DOJ filed the lawsuit Friday, arguing that because another candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. appears on the ballot, the results could be tainted if anyone other than Sen. Dan Sullivan wins. The department claimed the state would fail to protect election integrity if it certified results with that confusing ballot inclusion.
Peltola rejected that reasoning, asserting that Alaskans are fully capable of distinguishing between the two candidates. “It's sending a message that Dan Sullivan does not believe that Alaskans are sophisticated enough to know exactly who they're voting for and what the implications of their vote is,” she said.
The Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR), a nonpartisan group, called the DOJ's intervention “an unprecedented intervention” that violates department policy. “This is purely a matter of state law, and the administration has absolutely no authority to tell Alaska when or how to certify the results of its Senate election,” said CEIR Executive Director David Becker.
Democrats across the board slammed the lawsuit. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote on X, “This is an outrage. It shows they know they're going to lose. We will fight tooth and nail. And we will win.”
Peltola said she was unsure if Sullivan supported the DOJ's strategy. His campaign spokesperson, Nate Adams, said in a statement that the campaign would “let the DOJ complaint run its course.” The lawsuit follows similar claims by President Trump about the Alaska race.
Peltola emphasized that Alaska has a long history of secure elections. “We've been running great elections for decades. There have never really been any abnormalities or irregularities to speak of,” she said. “I have total confidence in Alaskans' ability to know who they're voting for.”
Nonpartisan forecaster Decision Desk HQ, a partner of The Hill, gives Peltola a 61 percent chance of winning the Senate race. The lawsuit has sparked broader concerns about election integrity, with a recent New York Times/Siena College poll showing half of Americans believe Republicans might try to overturn midterm results illegally.
The DOJ's action is the latest in a series of controversial moves involving Alaska's elections, drawing sharp criticism from election watchdogs and legal experts.
