Alaska Senate Democratic nominee Mary Peltola and national Democrats have filed a legal motion to fight the Trump administration’s lawsuit over the Alaska Senate race, asking a judge to grant a motion to intervene and ultimately dismiss the case.

Marc Elias, the lawyer representing both Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said Saturday that his firm “has filed to fight DOJ’s lawsuit to rig the Alaska Senate election.”

Filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for Alaska, Peltola’s Senate campaign committee and the DSCC asked the court to grant their motion to intervene “to defend against the Justice Department’s extraordinary assault.”

“This case directly threatens both Proposed Intervenors’ interests by demanding that defendants refuse to certify the election if, and only if, Peltola wins,” the motion states. “It is part of a nationwide attack on free elections by the federal government, which the DSCC has fought at every turn.”

At President Donald Trump’s behest, the Justice Department on Friday filed a lawsuit to block the certification of Alaska’s Senate election results if Peltola narrowly beats Republican incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. The DOJ argued that another candidate on the ballot, a retired teacher named Daniel J. Sullivan, could confuse voters — despite the ballots clearly stating the senator’s title and his status as an incumbent.

The lawsuit was met with outrage from Democrats and some Republicans. In an exclusive interview with MS NOW’s Nicole Wallace, Peltola described it as a “desperate attempt to cling to power” on Trump’s part, as Republicans brace for a blow to their majority in Congress.

The Friday motion to intervene argued similarly.

“Alaskans, apparently, must elect Senator Dan S. Sullivan or the President will not let them elect anyone at all,” the motion states, later adding, “And the Department of Justice’s assumption that every voter who casts a vote for Daniel J. Sullivan really meant to vote for Senator Sullivan is insulting to voters and irreconcilable with Alaska’s ranked-choice voting procedures and the ballot’s clear differentiation between the two candidates.”

The Alaska Senate race is rated a toss-up. Peltola has proven herself capable of flipping a Republican-controlled seat when she won the 2022 special election for the U.S. House. Voters in Alaska appear to have soured on Trump — who won the state in 2024 by double digits — but the Republican senator has continued to align himself with the president and his unpopular policies.

Alaskan Republicans had tried to boot Daniel J. Sullivan from the ballot during the primary race, accusing him of being in cahoots with Democrats to sabotage the senator’s chances. In June, the Alaska Supreme Court ordered the state’s Division of Elections to include his name on the primary ballot after election officials removed him.

The retired teacher has said he is running a genuine campaign for Senate.

“My intention is not to trick people,” he told The New York Times in August. “I would hope people are informed enough to know the difference between an incumbent senator and a teacher.”

Lisa Rubin contributed to this report.

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