WASHINGTON — Bradley Bondi, the brother of Attorney General Pam Bondi, lost his bid for president of the D.C. Bar, receiving 3,490 votes compared with opponent Diane Seltzer’s 34,982.
Seltzer, an employment lawyer who ran a campaign focused on supporting members of the organization at a time of “governmental chaos,” said after the results were announced Monday that she credited the D.C. Bar’s members with showing up and saying what kind of leader they wanted.
“We’ve got to make sure that we hang on to the rule of law and that we can practice law safely,” Seltzer told NBC News. “That we can represent who we want without worrying about retaliation, and that judges can issue fair and impartial rulings without worrying about being intimidated or retaliated against.”
The result came amid the Trump administration’s attacks on judges who have ruled against its policies, as well as on law firms that have represented causes or clients President Donald Trump doesn’t like. Last month, federal judges struck down Trump’s executive orders against Jenner & Block and Perkins Coie, finding the orders unconstitutional.
Seltzer acknowledged that the D.C. Bar had “heavy” issues on its plate. But she said she also wanted to create events that would build community, saying the association had a “bright, vibrant, engaged, energetic” group of members.
Bondi did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but he said in a previous statement that he would “vigilantly protect” against any push to politicize the bar.
Alicia Long, who served as deputy to former interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin, also lost her bid for treasurer of the D.C. Bar to Amanda Molina, although by a smaller margin than Bondi: 8,854 votes to 26,380.
There were more than 89,000 D.C. Bar members eligible to vote, and turnout was at 43%. Seltzer’s term will begin July 1.
Bar associations can have enormous sway in the legal profession, with a role to play in who gets to be a lawyer — and who gets to stay a lawyer when misconduct allegations are involved. By virtue of its location, the D.C. Bar is where a significant number of federal attorneys are licensed.
The Trump administration has also targeted the American Bar Association, with the Justice Department canceling grants the ABA used to provide assistance to lawyers and judges who work with domestic and sexual assault survivors. It also ended cooperation with the ABA’s vetting of judicial nominees.
The ABA, which is suing the Justice Department over the grant revocations, has said there are “clear choices” facing the profession and that it would “not stay silent in the face of efforts to remake the legal profession into something that rewards those who agree with the government and punishes those who do not.”