Photo courtesy Paul Zukerberg.

The long, complicated question as to whether or not there will be an attorney general election included in April’s primary will finally be answered tomorrow by a D.C. Superior Court judge.

Superior Court Judge Laura A. Cordero granted an emergency hearing this morning prompted by AG hopeful Paul Zukerberg, who is suing the D.C. Council to ensure his name will be on the ballot for the April primary. She will issue a decision by tomorrow at 5 p.m. Zukerberg’s attorney Gary Thompson says that a ruling needs to be made by then because the Board of Elections will begin printing the ballots after February 8.

Zukerberg filed a preliminary injunction late last year after the Council passed bill to delay the attorney general election until 2018, despite the fact that D.C. voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of an election in 2014. In court this morning, Judge Cordero heard the arguments of both the plaintiff, Zukerberg, and the defendant, the D.C. Council. Thompson argued on Zukerberg’s behalf that it was “the intent of the voters” to elect their own attorney general in 2014 and that delaying the election would cause “irreparable damage” to Zukerberg’s campaign.

However, even if the judge rules that Zukerberg’s name won’t be on the ballot for the April primary, all is not completely lost. Councilmember Mary Cheh introduced a bill in December that would implement a partisan attorney general election that’s set to be heard by the Committee of the Whole on Monday. In Cheh’s legislation, there would be an attorney general election during the general election, and candidates would then indicate their party preference on the ballot, rather than there being one candidate from each party on the ballot.

Thompson tells DCist that, while going down that route is “not ideal,” he and his client applaud Cheh for her efforts and would still fight to get an AG election on the general ballot. “It’s crystal clear that the election is to happen in 2014,” Thompson says. “It’s unconscionable that the Council would delay the election. We believe their decision was egregiously wrong.”