Wiley Represents Bruce V. Spiva in Successfully Challenging D.C. Attorney General Candidate’s Eligibility

Wiley, a preeminent Washington, D.C. law firm, successfully represented the campaign of attorney general candidate Bruce V. Spiva in challenging the qualifications of D.C. Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie as an attorney general candidate. The Board of Elections and a panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals held in unanimous 3-0 decisions that McDuffie is not legally qualified to run on the June primary ballot because he has not been actively engaged as an attorney, judge, or law professor in D.C. for five of the last 10 years. McDuffie’s petition for rehearing by the full Court of Appeals was subsequently denied.

Spiva’s campaign is represented by Theodore A. Howard of Wiley Rein LLP.

“It took significant courage for Bruce Spiva to bring this challenge, given the cynicism in some parts of the community about his motives for doing so and doubts about the interpretation of the eligibility statue for which we argued. The unanimous rulings by both the Board of Elections and the Court of Appeals on this issue of first impression have vindicated the challenge and rendered an important service to the voters of the District of Columbia,” said Howard.