The front-runner in the race to become the next attorney general of Washington, D.C., was dealt a crippling blow in his bid to get back on the ballot.
Kenyan McDuffie, a former trial attorney and current member of the D.C. Council, appealed the decision by the D.C. Board of Elections last week after it ruled he was ineligible to run because he did not meet the minimum requirement of being “actively engaged” as a city attorney for at least five of the past 10 years. However, a panel of three appellate judges upheld that decision on Thursday, just days before ballots are set to be distributed to voters on Monday.
Lawyers for McDuffie argued his experience as a councilman over the last 10 years satisfied the requirement of being a working attorney, pointing to his legal background, which he has used to draft legislation on the D.C. Council’s Judiciary Committee.
FRONT-RUNNER IN DC ATTORNEY GENERAL RACE APPEALS TO GET BACK ON BALLOT
“Council members draft and analyze laws — that is part of the definition of what a lawyer does,” said Baruch Weiss, an attorney representing McDuffie, during an appeals hearing on Wednesday. “Those who are not lawyers have to hire lawyers to help them do that. In this case, he did it himself.”
But lawyers for McDuffie’s opponent Bruce Spiva successfully argued that although the councilman is a licensed lawyer employed by the city government, he does not work as an attorney for the district — marking a clear distinction they believe disqualifies him from the race.
“When I read the statute … I read it to require more than a candidate being a member in good standing of the bar and an employee of the District of Columbia,” said Gary Thompson, chairman of the D.C. Board of Elections, in the initial ruling on April 18. “The position of D.C. councilmember, while it certainly helps to be an attorney, it’s not one that one is necessarily an attorney, [and] does not have to be an attorney.”
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McDuffie’s absence from the ballot throws uncertainty into the race to become the second attorney general of the nation’s capital because the three other candidates don’t hold the same name recognition as the Ward 5 councilman. McDuffie was widely considered to be the front-runner, and he had been outraising his opponents and garnering several high-profile endorsements.
The Board of Elections is set to finalize the ballot on Friday before sending it out to voters on Monday. The primary election is scheduled for June 21 and is considered tantamount to winning the election, as the deep-blue district typically favors Democrats.
