Longtime D.C. lawyer Bruce V. Spiva, who has practiced law in the District for three decades, will run for D.C. attorney general in 2022, joining council member Kenyan R. McDuffie (D-Ward 5) and local attorney Ryan Jones in a group of contenders who hope to become the city’s next chief legal officer.

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       Spiva, who announced his decision to run in an interview with The Washington Post, said his broad experience litigating cases on voting rights, consumer protection and antitrust issues make him the ideal successor to incumbent Attorney General Karl A Racine (D), who will not seek a third term.

       “I view it as a large public-interest law firm — the beauty of the [D.C. attorney general’s] office is defending the District and protecting the people of D.C.," said Spiva, a Democrat. “I’ve been doing that my whole career.”

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       The 55-year-old earned his law degree from Harvard and is a managing partner at the international law firm Perkins Coie, where he oversees the D.C. branch and leads an office of 200 professionals. Previously, Spiva was a partner at another law firm and headed his own firm for nearly 11 years.

       He was born in Cleveland and has lived in the District for three decades, now residing in the Crestwood neighborhood of Ward 4 with his two children.

       Spiva said he has also tried cases on civil rights issues, such as fighting for public housing residents in Columbia Heights who were forced out of their homes under the guise of code enforcement. Between 2006 and 2013, he represented a sexual assault survivor in a case against the D.C. government and two local hospitals, alleging that the response by D.C. police retraumatized the victim.

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       He later testified about the case in support of a council bill that amended D.C. law to ensure sexual assault survivors could have a victim advocate present with them at medical examinations and during hospital and police interviews, among other measures. The legislation passed unanimously.

       D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine will not seek elective office in 2022

       Spiva said he would expand on Racine’s work, with a particular focus on consumer protection and civil rights. He also sees the attorney general’s office as a platform to advocate for statehood and to reduce congressional interference in local laws and affairs; Spiva was previously the chair of the advocacy group DC Vote and now sits on its board.

       In 2007 he testified before the House of Representatives in support of full voting representation in Congress.

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       “As D.C. attorney general, the people will have a fierce advocate for local autonomy and statehood, and I’ll carry that message wherever I go,” Spiva said. “Congress uses D.C. as a petri dish for their favored right-wing policies, and I’ll certainly be opposing that.”

       Spiva said he will file paperwork to run in the next week and has not yet decided whether he will use the city’s public financing program. For now, he said, his main priority is making himself familiar to the city’s electorate.

       “I haven’t run for office before; I’m not a politician,” Spiva said. “I know I’m going to have some work to do to get my message out there and be known by the voters.”