Democratic Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola called a new Department of Justice lawsuit to block certification of the Alaska election both “desperate” and “clearly corruption.”
“It is not playing well with Alaskans at all, and 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 implication of their vote is,” Peltola, who is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, told MS NOW in an Oct. 23 interview.
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Earlier on Oct. 23, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against the Alaska Division of Elections that seeks to block the certification of the Senate race if incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, R-Alaska, does not win. The suit alleges that another candidate on the ballot with an almost identical name, retired schoolteacher Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., may confuse voters and violate the senator’s duties under the National Voter Registration Act’s aim to “protect the integrity of the electoral process.”
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Peltola and Sen. Sullivan are the only likely victors of the race, though, as the second Sullivan, running unaffiliated with a party, rarely stands a chance, according to recent polling and primary results.
President Donald Trump told reporters that he directed the suit, saying, “I was the one who said to do it.”
The new DOJ action comes after legal action earlier in the election season where the senator’s campaign pursed attempted to remove the other Dan Sullivan from the ballot, alleging that Democrats and allies of Peltola were behind an effort to “trick” voters. Ultimately, though, a federal judge and the Alaska Supreme Court ruled to keep the second Dan Sullivan’s campaign intact.
Alaska’s Senate race is one on a small list of toss up races that will ultimately decide if Republicans maintain their 53-47 majority of the Senate or if Democrats reclaim control. Peltola’s campaign successfully put the race at play for Democrats in the typically reliably red state that Trump carried three times in presidential races, and an Alaska Survey Research Poll from Oct. 1-3 reported Peltola with a slight lead over the senator.
More: Alaska suit signals DOJ willingness to contest elections, experts say
In her interview with MS NOW, Peltola called the new DOJ suit “a very desperate attempt to cling to power, using his [Sen. Sullivan’s] allies in Washington D.C. to rig the system even further.”
“We take great umbrage with people from the lower 48, people from outside the state, coming in and telling us how to run our lives, how to live our lives,” Peltola said of Alaskans’ attitudes toward outside intervention.
Peltola additionally said that she is “worried about the implications of the cost of a legal battle” on her campaign.
What Alaska voters see on the ballot
In Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system, four candidates advance from the primary to the general election. Peltola, both Sullivans and another Republican, Geraldn Heikes, are on the ballot, and the senator’s line says “(Registered Republican) Incumbent” next to his name, according to a sample ballot from the state’s election site. Alaska Survey Research polling reveals that the retired teacher Sullivan and Heikes are unlikely to stand a chance against the major Democrat, Peltola, and major Republican, Sen. Sullivan, on the ballot.
A sample ballot from the Alaska Division of Elections shows that voters are shown a distinction between candidate Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr. and the Senator Dan Sullivan, “Sullivan, Dan S. (Registered Republican) Incumbent.”
“I do not know how even just an average voter who isn’t dialed in to the race [would be confused]. Clearly, it says incumbent, so there just isn’t much room for confusion on the ballot,” Peltola said. She later went on to add, “we believe in Alaskans to know exactly who they’re voting for.”
According to the Alaska Division of Election’s list of declared candidates ahead of the midterms, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. is a registered Republican. But on the primary ballot in August and on the general election ballot, he appears listed as unaffiliated with a party. Still, the Department of Justice lawsuit contends that he is running as a Republican despite being “a known longtime supporter of Democratic candidates.”
Alaskans have already begun to cast their early voting ballots, according to the Alaska Division of Elections, and the deadline to submit applications for mail-in votes is today, Oct. 24.
Contributing: Bart Jansen
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alaska Dem Peltola calls DOJ lawsuit ‘corrupt’ and ‘desperate’
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