D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D) is endorsing Brian Schwalb, a longtime trial attorney and partner-in-charge of the Venable law firm’s office in the District, to become the city’s next chief legal officer.

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       In making his decision, Racine, who is not seeking a third term, cited Schwalb’s experience defending a diverse portfolio of clients, his legal judgment as well as his interest in wage theft issues and uplifting city youths — which have been focuses during Racine’s own seven-year tenure.

       Racine met individually with all four candidates in the race before they launched campaigns — and again last month — to assess their leadership, lawyering and managerial experience before deciding on Schwalb, he said. D.C. Council member Kenyan R. McDuffie (D-Ward 5) and local attorneys Ryan Jones and Bruce V. Spiva are also vying to succeed Racine. The Democratic primary is June 21.

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       “After meeting with them and letting things process for a couple of weeks … I kept asking the same question over and over again: ‘Who can do better what we have done over the last seven years?’ ” Racine said. “I think that’s the standard. And I determined that it was Brian, and it wasn’t close.”

       Schwalb, 54, earned his law degree from Harvard and defended and prosecuted civil tax matters as a trial attorney for the Justice Department. He joined Venable in 2005 after spending about six years in private practice, serving as vice chairman of the firm before becoming partner-in-charge of Venable’s D.C. office in 2016. Schwalb spent nine years working with Racine at the firm before 2014, though Racine said that was not a driving factor in his decision.

       Racine said he thinks Schwalb, a first-time candidate, will help attract and retain talent in the 700-person office and can help maintain its independence because he is “not a politician” and thus would not be afraid to “point out instances of wrongdoing.”

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       Racine has donated to the campaigns of two candidates in the race: Schwalb and McDuffie.

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       “Karl Racine is uniquely positioned to know the type of leadership, experience and independence it’ll take to do the job and do it well,” Schwalb said. “His endorsement is a vote of confidence.”

       Schwalb says his campaign’s priorities include addressing wage theft in the District, human and labor trafficking and keeping children out of the criminal justice system, while using the law to help close gaps in equity and income across the city. He has also received an endorsement from Irv Nathan, who was the last appointed attorney general before Racine was elected.

       The coveted endorsement comes as several local races are heating up; all four challengers appeared Saturday at the first debate for attorney general candidates, hosted by the Ward 7 Democrats.

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       All of the candidates have praised Racine's efforts over the years and expressed a desire to build on many of the current focuses and initiatives of his office.

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       In their opening statements, Jones said his focus is on addressing inequity and crime prevention and intervention, promising to engage residents in decisions about public safety; Spiva discussed his broad array of work trying cases on civil rights, voting rights and on behalf of public housing residents; McDuffie, who said he is running to be the “people’s lawyer,” discussed the economic equity-focused legislation he’s introduced on the council and the importance of a whole-of-government approach to delivering justice for District residents; and Schwalb called the law “the single most powerful tool we have to bridge the gap in equity, income and opportunity that we have in our city.”