Among the five lawmakers who filed the suit was Representative Wes Keller, an elder in Ms. Palin's church whom she appointed to his seat.
The reaction among their Republican colleagues was mixed. The House Speaker, John Harris, asked the Legislative Council to convene a meeting within the week to discuss the status of the investigation. "What started as a bipartisan and impartial effort is becoming overshadowed by public comments from individuals at both ends of the political spectrum," Mr. Harris said in a letter to Mr. Elton.
State Senate President Lyda Green, a Republican who has frequently clashed with Ms. Palin over policy, said the lawmakers who filed it were all "step-by-step followers" of Ms. Palin.
"The McCain campaign is the one that has made this partisan," Ms. Green said. "This was 100 percent bipartisan effort on the part of the Legislature to ask questions that deserve to be answered."