Alaska Election Lawsuit Faces Rapid Deadline as State and Democrats Push for Dismissal

Judge Sharon Gleason issued an order Monday night in U.S. District Court in Alaska that accelerates the timeline for the Department of Justice's lawsuit regarding the state's Senate election. The judge set a deadline of 5 p.m. Alaska Time on Tuesday for the Justice Department to respond to motions to intervene. Those motions were filed by the campaign of Democratic nominee Mary Peltola, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the League of Women Voters, and Common Cause.

Gleason stated she intends to rule on those intervention motions by late Wednesday afternoon. If she grants them, the Justice Department must be ready to answer a motion to dismiss the case by 5 p.m. Thursday. The dismissal motion seeks to end the legal challenge before the Nov. 3 election.

Shortly after the judge issued her scheduling order, Alaska election officials submitted their own motion to the court. The state asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit immediately with prejudice, arguing that the complaint lacks a legal basis. The officials requested a decision by Nov. 2, the day before the election. They noted that the state's Division of Elections has taken steps to distinguish between the two candidates named Sullivan on the ballot.

The state motion argued that the United States lacks authority to intervene in state elections to support a favored candidate. Lawyers for the state officials wrote that the lawsuit casts a cloud over the election contrary to the public interest. The Justice Department filed its original suit Thursday, after President Donald Trump said he ordered the action. The suit asks a judge to bar Alaska from certifying results if incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan loses by a margin attributable to voter confusion.

The Justice Department claims Daniel J. Sullivan ran for office primarily to benefit the Peltola campaign by reducing votes for Senator Sullivan. In a Sunday court filing, lawyers for Peltola and the DSCC expressed concern that the suit remains pending to support potential challenges to a Peltola victory. They described the case as an unprecedented order that precludes certification if the candidate favored by the president loses narrowly.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a Sunday post on X that the Justice Department does not seek to stop ballots from being cast or to stop certification. He stated the litigation aims to ensure ballots are preserved so state officials can determine if voters were confused. The department did not coordinate with any campaign, he said, and relied solely on federal law. The department has not explained how an investigation before certification would determine individual voter confusion.

Incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan is listed on the ballot as Dan S. Sullivan with the labels incumbent and Republican. The other candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan, appears without additional descriptive labels. Peltola told MS NOW's Nicolle Wallace on Friday night that the suit is corruption that Alaskans are tired of. She called it a desperate attempt to cling to power using allies in Washington. Peltola's campaign said on Sunday that she sustained minor injuries in a car accident on Saturday night. The campaign canceled events in Fairbanks and Bethel for Sunday and Monday, with plans to reschedule them.