Alaska's Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola pauses midterms campaigning after car crash

Mary Peltola, Alaska's Democratic Senate candidate, has paused campaigning ahead of the US midterm elections after sustaining "minor injuries" in a car crash.

Peltola, 53, and her family were travelling to an event on Saturday when the vehicle they were in was hit by another driver, her campaign said in a statement.

She is running in one of the most closely watched races in the elections, which take place on 3 November - one that could help decide the balance of power in government.

Peltola has rescheduled campaign events "as she takes time to recover" on the advice of medical professionals, her campaign manager, Cheryl Bruce, said in a statement.

"Mary and her family sustained minor injuries but are in good spirits," Bruce said.

Peltola is trying to unseat incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan website that rates and tracks US elections, has classified the Alaska senate race as a "toss-up", meaning neither the Republicans nor the Democrats hold a decisive advantage.

Trump told the justice department to file a federal lawsuit last week to block the certification of the Senate election in Alaska if Sullivan loses, arguing that another candidate with the same name may confuse voters.

The suit said the inclusion of another Dan Sullivan on the ballot could lead some to mistakenly cast their votes for the wrong candidate.

Previous efforts to remove that Sullivan, a retired teacher, from the ballot have already been rejected by the Alaska Supreme Court.

Trump administration sues to block certification of upcoming Alaska election