MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
National politics are taking center stage in the race to be the next president of the District of Columbia Bar Association, and it shows in the unusually heated campaign rhetoric, as NPR's Carrie Johnson reports.
CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: Elections to lead the legal association normally plod along without much outside interest. But this year, something's different. Bob Spagnoletti is CEO of the D.C. Bar.
BOB SPAGNOLETTI: I've been a member the D.C. Bar for 30 years, and this is the first time that the election has generated this kind of interest.
JOHNSON: He says nearly 30,000 people have already voted in the election. That's almost triple the previous record set in 1990. Some of that interest was on display recently at a reception to meet the candidates.
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JOHNSON: Candidate Diane Seltzer is an employment attorney who operates her own small firm. Seltzer told the crowd about the fear she's hearing from lawyers across Washington.
DIANE SELTZER: We're no longer afraid of, what if I'm not prepared or I missed a case that I should have known. We're literally afraid of terrible consequences just for doing our jobs.
JOHNSON: In just three months, the Trump administration has punished big law firms because of their partners and clients, lobbed rhetorical attacks against judges and fired career lawyers at federal agencies. Seltzer says she's listening to those people and making their concerns the center of her campaign.
SELTZER: My priority is making sure that the rule of law is upheld, that we feel that we are safe to do our jobs and that we can go forward every day representing the clients we choose.
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SELTZER: I - thank you.
JOHNSON: The bar president mostly plays an administrative role and has no say in attorney discipline. Seltzer's running against prominent securities attorney Brad Bondi. Bondi has represented billionaire Elon Musk and the Trump Media & Technology Group. He also happens to be the younger brother of the U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi. On a Zoom forum last week, Bondi explained why he's in the race.
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BRAD BONDI: I'm running to lead our bar with the same care that I've brought to serving my clients, to teaching at Georgetown and George Mason law schools, to raising my five children.
JOHNSON: Bondi says the bar is at a crossroads and that it should steer clear of political debates.
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BONDI: I need your vote to keep our bar a political, as it's meant to be, and I need you to spread the word to your colleagues.
JOHNSON: So far, Seltzer's racked up endorsements from nearly two dozen former D.C. Bar presidents. George Conway's a prominent critic of President Trump and his Justice Department. Conway drew national attention to the election a few weeks ago when he posted this on Instagram.
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GEORGE CONWAY: I'm asking you to vote, and most importantly, to vote against somebody - to vote against Brad Bondi.
JOHNSON: Conway's not a member of the D.C. Bar, and he's not eligible to vote there, but his video seems to have struck a nerve. The National Review magazine wrote a story headlined "Don't Blame Brad Bondi For His Sister." Bondi used the issue to criticize his opponent at the candidate forum last week.
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BONDI: She posted on her social media claims that I was involved in a conspiracy to destroy the rule of law and was an existential threat to the country.
SELTZER: I...
BONDI: And my own - that my - George Conway's post - that my own children saw.
JOHNSON: Seltzer replied none of those words had come out of her mouth, then the moderator stepped in to end the debate.
UNIDENTIFIED MODERATOR: Brad, your time is - I'm going to cut you off. I'm sorry. It is 7 o'clock.
JOHNSON: Voting for the D.C. Bar presidential election ends June 4. Results will be announced a few days later.
Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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