Photo courtesy Paul Zukerberg.
Sorry, D.C.: You will not be voting for an elected attorney general in April’s democratic primary.
Yesterday, District Court Superior Judge Laura A. Cordero heard lawyer Paul Zukerberg’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the D.C. Council to try and get his name on the ballot as a democratic nominee for attorney general in the April primary election. It did not go very well.
Zukerberg filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against the Council after they passed a bill to delay the attorney general election until 2018, contrary to what D.C. residents voted for in 2010 (for an election in 2014). Since then, Zukerberg has been fighting hard to ensure there will be an election this April and that his name will be on the ballot. In yesterday’s hearing, Zukerberg’s attorney, Gary Thompson, argued that it would cause his client “irreparable harm” if the election is delayed until 2018 and that it was the “intent of the voters” to elect their own Attorney General in 2014.
In the decision to deny Zukerberg’s motion, Judge Cordero writes that in this case, the “plaintiff has not ‘clearly demonstrated,’ much less made a ‘strong showing’ that he will be in danger of suffering irreparable harm if the attorney general election is not held in 2014.” The judge also ruled that, while Thompson argued “that the rights of voters and the rights of other potential candidates are at stake,” he “does not and cannot legally represent anyone’s interest other than his own.”
After yesterday’s hearing, Thompson told DCist that, if the motion was denied, they’d still try and fight for the election to talk place in November. “It’s not ideal,” Thompson said. But Thompson had more pointed words on the Council’s decision to delay the election until 2018. “Shame on the Council. They pretend to be champions of democracy when it comes to federal voting rights, but when it comes before them they have failed the people,” he said. “We believe their decision is egregiously wrong.”
You can read Judge Cordero’s full decision below:
