Lawyers for Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Pertola and Senate Democrats filed a motion Friday urging a federal judge to throw out a Trump administration lawsuit seeking to block the outcome of the upcoming election if Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan loses.
The motion, filed on behalf of Pertola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, called the lawsuit filed by the Justice Department an “unprecedented preemptive strike against democratic elections.”
“This case requires defendants to directly threaten the interests of the proposed interveners by refusing to certify the election if, and only if, Pertola wins,” the filing states. “This case is part of the federal government’s nationwide assault on free elections, which the DSCC continues to combat.”
The Trump administration filed a lawsuit against Alaska election officials on Thursday, saying candidate Dan Sullivan Jr.’s appearance on the ballot could mislead those hoping to vote for Sen. Dan Sullivan’s re-election.
The lawsuit comes after President Donald Trump repeatedly complained that the sitting president had been threatened by a man with the same name and the state’s use of ranked-choice voting.
“I am very concerned about Dan S. Sullivan running for U.S. Senate in Alaska because it is completely confusing,” Trump wrote in a Truth Society post on Wednesday. “It is ridiculous that the courts have not stopped this scam.”
The DOJ lawsuit asks the court to block certification of the Alaska Senate results if Dan S. Sullivan does not win the election and if “if all votes were cast for Dan J. Sullivan, instead of Senator Sullivan, and Alaska’s ranked-choice process proceeds accordingly, Senator Sullivan would win the election.”
Pertola and Senate Democrats filed documents rebutting the request, noting that “the Department of Justice’s belief that every elector who voted for Dan J. Sullivan actually intended to vote for Senator Sullivan is insulting to voters and irreconcilable with Alaska’s ranked-choice voting process and the clear distinction between the two candidates.”
“Alaskan Mary and the DSCC are entitled to intervene to defend against the Department of Justice’s extraordinary attacks,” the motion states. “Given their efforts earlier this year to exclude Daniel J. Sullivan from the ballot, there is reason to doubt that the existing defendants will vigorously defend themselves against the Department of Justice’s demands.”
In June, election officials determined that Dan J. Sullivan Jr.’s candidacy was “not made in good faith” and removed him from the ballot. An Alaska judge overturned the decision later that month, certifying his campaign.
Trump claimed that Dan J. Sullivan Jr. was only running because “Democrats treated him as a confusing problem” and called his candidacy “corrupt.” Dan J. Sullivan Jr. has denied the allegations.
NBC News reported in July that federal and state investigators were looking into whether Dan J. Sullivan Jr. was involved in a conspiracy to confuse voters, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit was filed less than two weeks before Election Day and after early voting began in the state. The court has not yet set a hearing date for the lawsuit.
Legal and election experts told NBC News the Justice Department’s case is on shaky ground.
Because U.S. elections are conducted and certified by state and local officials rather than the federal government, the law limits the Justice Department’s role in elections.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the Alaska Senate race as “difficult to predict.” The race marks a key opportunity for Democrats to wrest seats from Republicans as they battle for control of the Senate.