The 2022 District of Columbia Attorney General election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the next attorney general for the District of Columbia. This was the third attorney general election in D.C. history.
Incumbent attorney general Karl Racine had declined to run for reelection.
Democratic primary A Democratic primary was held on June 21, 2022. Incumbent attorney general Karl Racine was considered likely to run for mayor or reelection as attorney general, and even filed paperwork in 2020, but announced he would not run for any office in October 2021.
According to District election law, an candidate for attorney general must have been actively engaged as an attorney in the District for at least five of the previous ten years. In late March 2022, candidate Bruce Spiva filed a challenge with the Board of Elections in which he claimed frontrunner Kenyan McDuffie was ineligible to run for the position. The challenge said that McDuffie did not spend at least five of the previous ten years actively engaged as an attorney. McDuffie responded, saying he is an attorney and that his work as a Councilmember since 2012 should count toward the requirement. On April 18, the Board of Elections upheld Spiva's challenge, and ruled that McDuffie was ineligible to run for the office. McDuffie requested a rehearing, but the D.C. Court of Appeals denied his request."Rehearing request denied in Kenyan McDuffie's latest attempt to get back on DC AG ballot". Fox 5 News. April 30, 2022.
Candidates Declared Ryan Jones, attorney from Brightwood Brian Schwalb, attorney from Chevy Chase Bruce Spiva, attorney from Crestwood
Disqualified Kenyan McDuffie, Councilmember for Ward 5 (2012–present)
Declined Karl Racine, incumbent Attorney General for the District of Columbia (since 2015)
Endorsements
Debates and forums + 2022 District of Columbia Democratic attorney general primary debates and forums Date Host Moderator Link Participants Participant Absent Non-invitee Invitee Withdrawn Jones McDuffie Schwalb Spiva 1 Mar 5, 2022 Ward 7 Democrats Dionna Lewis Facebook 2 Apr 26, 2022 League of Women Voters/GWU Dayna Bowen Matthew Facebook N 3 May 11, 2022 District of Columbia Bar Keith AlexanderSam Ford YouTube N
Results
General election Results
Results by ward WardBrian SchwalbDemocraticVarious candidatesOther parties#%#%Ward 122,64498.21%4131.79%Ward 217.20697.42%4562.58%Ward 326,21597.68%6242.32%Ward 425,20497.69%5962.31%Ward 524,59197.7%5802.3%Ward 633,15696.69%1,1363.31%Ward 716,37397.59%4042.41%Ward 811,73797.45%3072.55%Total177,12697.51%4,5162.49%
References
External links
Kenyan McDuffie (D) for Attorney General Brian Schwalb (D) for Attorney General Bruce Spiva (D) for Attorney General