The Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Alaska, Mary Peltola, harshly rebuked the Trump administration’s attempts to preemptively block the certification of her state’s election results if Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) loses.

Speaking with MS NOW’s Nicole Wallace on Friday, Peltola called the Trump administration’s lawsuit a “desperate attempt on Dan Sullivan’s behalf” and a “distraction.”

“This is just a desperate attempt to silence Alaskans,” Peltola said. “And this is exactly the kind of corruption that Alaskans are sick and tired of. And this is exactly why I’m in this race.”

The Justice Department’s lawsuit centers on a man with a name nearly identical to Sullivan’s appearing on the November ballot, Dan J. Sullivan. The Trump-favored Sullivan in the race is Dan S. Sullivan.

The Trump administration claims that Dan J. Sullivan “decided to run for Senator in 2026 as a Republican with the intention of misleading supporters of Senator Sullivan into voting for him.”

The Justice Department’s lawsuit cited concerns about election “integrity” and argued that “some supporters of Senator Sullivan likely will inadvertently vote for Daniel J. Sullivan” while “other supporters of Senator Sullivan likely will be confused as to how to rank the three Republican candidates as to defeat Peltola.”

The Justice Department also asked the court to halt certification of any result “pending an investigation” about whether the similar names are to blame.

This combination photo shows Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, left, in Palmer, Alaska, Aug. 17, 2026, and a candidate in Alaska's Senate race, Dan Sullivan, right, in Petersburg, Alaska, July 3, 2026.

AP Photos/Mark Thiessen/Becky Bohrer

Wallace, pointing out that the Alaska Supreme Court already rejected an attempt to remove Dan J. Sullivan’s name from the ballot, asked Peltola on Friday whether she was confident her win would be certified.

“You know, I am worried about the level of desperation,” Peltola replied. “I am very hopeful that there is enough of a margin and folks come out and vote in large numbers, and I do have a lot of optimism about that because we’ve seen so much more participation on the ground.”

FILE - Mary Peltola, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate seat in Alaska, addresses supporters at an election watch party on Aug. 18, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska.

AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File

Wallace quipped that this could be a political risk for Trump because, as Peltola later said, Alaskans don’t take kindly to outside meddling in the state’s affairs.

“We take great umbrage with people from the lower 48, people from outside, out-of-states coming in and telling us how to run our lives, how to live our lives,” Peltola said.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday, after news broke of the lawsuit, that he had personally ordered the Justice Department to block the certification of Alaska’s election results.

“I’m the one who said to do it,” Trump said during an appearance in Fort Myers, Florida.

Recent polls show Peltola holding a narrow lead over Sullivan in a race that could decide control of the Senate.

Legal experts quickly cast aspersions on the Justice Department’s arguments.

Election Law Blog contributor and Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller called the government’s arguments “one of the worst” he has “ever seen” and “absurdly thin.”

Watch Peltola’s full interview with Wallace here:

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