The Department of Justice on Thursday escalated its lawsuit over potential certification of Alaska's Senate election result, filing an amended complaint in federal court in Anchorage. The suit argues the outcome could be tainted by the candidacy of Daniel J. Sullivan, a man who shares a name with incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. The amended filing adds a new legal claim under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and incorporates details from a New York Times article published Wednesday.

The Times report described alleged efforts by people in the campaign of Democratic nominee Mary Peltola to recruit a retired schoolteacher named Dan J. Sullivan into the race. The DOJ's amended complaint says Peltola's campaign, Alaskans For Mary, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee were aware of the purpose of his candidacy and "orchestrated his sham campaign for the purpose of misleading Alaskan voters and getting Peltola elected." It also suggests the two groups misled U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason by stating in recent court filings that they lacked knowledge about why the retiree entered the race. Separately, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy late Wednesday ordered the state Department of Public Safety to investigate whether the alleged recruitment violated criminal or civil laws, citing the Times report.

In a separate filing, the DOJ argued that the amended complaint renders moot the motions to dismiss filed by the state, Peltola's campaign, the DSCC and others, citing precedent from the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Gleason had given the department until 5 p.m. Alaska Time Thursday to respond to those motions, which seek to have the original complaint thrown out before Election Day on Nov. 3. The judge has not yet ruled on whether the dismissal motions are moot.

The defendants pushed back sharply. Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher and other state election officials filed a motion asking Gleason to expedite consideration of a motion to dismiss the amended complaint, saying the DOJ added a second "equally meritless" count relying on the same legal theory rather than substantively opposing the state's motion. They urged the court not to tolerate what they called "gamesmanship" in the expedited proceedings. Peltola's campaign and the DSCC also filed a new motion to dismiss late Thursday, dismissing the DOJ's new claim and its allegation that they misled the court; they pointed to language in a proposed answer in which they said they lacked knowledge or information sufficient to admit or deny certain allegations.

The case is on a compressed timeline ahead of the Nov. 3 election, and Gleason's next decisions on whether the original dismissal motions are moot and whether to expedite review of the new motions will shape how quickly the dispute is resolved. The state's Public Safety investigation ordered by Dunleavy adds a parallel track that could bear on the allegations about the Sullivan candidacy.