DOJ, Democrats Clash Over Lawsuit to Block Alaska Senate Certification

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee are trading sharp accusations in an Alaska election lawsuit centered on alleged voter confusion involving Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola and two men whose names closely resemble that of Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Last week, the DOJ asked the court to block certification of the upcoming election. The department argued that if Sullivan narrowly loses to Peltola, the outcome could be linked to Daniel J. Sullivan’s decision to run for Senate as a Republican, allegedly with the goal of confusing voters who intended to support the incumbent.

Over the weekend, Peltola’s main campaign committee and the DSCC sought permission to join the case. The Democratic groups urged the federal district court to dismiss the lawsuit as early as “this week,” warning that the litigation should not remain hanging over the midterm elections like the “Sword of Damocles.” They argued the lawsuit should be resolved promptly.

On Tuesday, the federal government defended its case and opposed the Democrats’ request to intervene, saying the state already represented the relevant interests. That stance changed within hours.

The shift followed a report from The New York Times, which said Daniel J. Sullivan had allegedly been recruited by Democrats to serve as a spoiler candidate and improve Peltola’s chances of winning.

After the report appeared, the Trump administration reversed course and withdrew its objection to the Democratic groups joining the lawsuit.

“Given a change in circumstances—the New York Times reporting that Proposed Intervenor Alaskans For Mary and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee orchestrated a sprawling conspiracy to recruit and prop up a sham candidate for the purpose of deceiving Alaskan voters—the United States withdraws its opposition to the Motion to Intervene,” the DOJ stated in a three-page notice.

Although the allegations are politically damaging for Democrats, the DOJ’s reversal removes one procedural dispute from the case. The parties now agree that the campaign committee and the DSCC may participate in the litigation.

Earlier Wednesday, the Democratic Party pointed to an earlier filing in which the defendants said they did not oppose intervention and acknowledged that candidates and their campaigns generally have a sufficient stake in election lawsuits to participate.

“Defendants effectively acknowledge that they cannot adequately represent these intervenors’ unique interests,” the 11-page response motion said. It argued that the Democrats’ direct interest in winning the election is fundamentally different from the state’s broader interest in protecting its authority to administer Alaska’s elections without federal interference.

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The DSCC filing also outlined several areas in which the Democratic groups’ legal arguments diverge from those presented by Alaska officials.

For example, the Democrats said the state defendants had not fully explained why the Purcell doctrine should prevent the DOJ from pursuing its claims. That doctrine generally cautions courts against making major election-related changes shortly before voters go to the polls.

The filing also said state officials had not directly challenged the DOJ’s claim that the ballot presents a plausible risk of voter confusion. In addition, Alaska suggested that the federal case might not yet be ripe and could become actionable only after the election—a position the Democrats said conflicted with their demand for an immediate ruling on the merits.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, contends that the Democratic groups’ position would allow the alleged source of the confusion to remain in place.

“Alaskans For Mary and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee are adamant that they have ‘especially stark interests’ in ensuring that Mr. Sullivan’s decoy candidacy continues without any steps to prevent voter confusion,” the DOJ wrote. The department said that position effectively acknowledges the candidacy is intended to benefit Peltola and argued that voter confusion cannot be treated as a legally protected interest.

Democratic attorneys rejected that characterization and said the administration was misrepresenting the central issue before the court.

“This case is not about whether Daniel J. Sullivan is qualified to appear on the ballot—the Alaska Supreme Court definitively resolved that question months ago,” the DSCC wrote. “Nor is it about Mr. Sullivan’s reasons for running. Rather, it is about whether DOJ can enjoin Alaska’s lawful certification of the U.S. Senate election if the President’s preferred candidate loses.”

The DOJ’s earlier opposition filing, which the administration has now withdrawn, offered a sharply different interpretation of the dispute—one that Republicans may view as newly significant in light of the Times report.

“With no apparent sense of irony, Proposed Intervenors decry ‘a nationwide attack on free elections’—in defense of including on the ballot a sham candidate whose sole reason for running is to mislead voters into accidentally voting for him, with the goal of assisting the Democrat,” the DOJ wrote in the now-defunct 13-page opposition motion.

Now, the government is pushing for expedited discovery from Peltola’s campaign “regarding the reported conspiracy, including as to whether the Campaign attempted to deceive the Court by seeking an expedited ruling on a motion to dismiss when the Campaign may have been aware of the New York Times reporting before it was published.”

The post ‘No apparent sense of irony’: DOJ and Democratic Party groups battle it out over Trump admin lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska Senate race first appeared on Law & Crime.