Incumbent DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb (D) and challenger in the Democratic primary election J.P. Szymkowicz offer sharply different visions for the future of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). They articulated their distinctions over issues of crime, juvenile justice, housing enforcement, immigration, consumer protection and home rule at their only joint appearance to date at a forum hosted by DC Fair Elections on April 19. Schwalb defended his record, while Szymkowicz repeatedly argued the OAG should focus more attention on public safety and accountability.
The Candidates
Elected in 2022, Brian Schwalb (www.brianfordc.com) is a former federal prosecutor and partner at the law firm Venable LLP. A third-generation Washingtonian, he previously worked as a trial attorney at the US Department of Justice and later served as managing partner of Venable’s DC office. Schwalb oversees the OAG, which handles juvenile prosecutions, civil litigation, consumer protection enforcement and legal defense of DC agencies.
J.P. Szymkowicz (www.jp4dc.com), a fifth-generation Washingtonian, son of a social worker and an attorney, began his legal career at the Prince George’s County State Attorney Office juvenile division. He has practiced law privately in the District for the past three decades. Szymkowicz is a four-term ANC commissioner representing the Foxhall neighborhood in Ward 3.
The Issues
Seeking reelection, Schwalb touts his record on consumer protection lawsuits, tenant enforcement and litigation against the Trump administration and major corporations, as well as lawsuits targeting wage theft, opioid manufacturers and environmental polluters. He is best known for his lawsuits against major landlords alleging illegal rent-setting practices.
Schwalb has attempted to hold social media companies accountable for youth mental health harms and has challenged the Trump administration’s immigration policy and federal takeover of the police force. “I’ve taken on corporations like Amazon and TikTok and Meta and Google and Live Nation and StubHub, massive multinational companies that put profits over the people of the District of Columbia,” Schwalb said in his closing state ment at the Fair Election debate.
“For the past three and a half years, I’ve had the honor to serve as DC’s independent elected attorney general,” Schwalb said, “fighting every day to make DC a safer, fairer, stronger place for people to live.”
Szymkowicz often speaks at length about his personal experiences with violent crime, citing the murder of a cousin and a fatal pedestrian crash in his ANC area. These events have shaped his views on prosecution and accountability. He also highlighted his past legal work involving FedEx Field and representing Russian businessman Alexander Konanykhin in a high-profile asylum case.
“I have to fight for every second that I’m here for my family, for my wife, for my mom and dad,” Szymkowicz said. “And that’s why I’m running in this race.”
The Issues
Szymkowicz is a critic of current juvenile justice policies. Prosecutors, he argues, should pursue all prosecutable juvenile offenses in order to provide the maximum access to resources for the convicted child. “If there’s no finding of involvement, you can’t do that,” Szymkowicz said at the debate. “You have to have convictions before you can help these kids.”
Schwalb disagreed. Warning against misunderstanding the law involving juvenile justice, he argued for the proper exercise of prosecutorial discretion. “Prosecuting every child that commits a crime is not only not what the law requires, but not what we want in a juvenile prosecutor,” Schwalb said.
Arguing over the OAG’s role in broader city governance, Szymkowicz repeatedly tied crime trends to police staffing shortages. He also criticized the OAG’s handling of nuisance properties and juvenile prosecution. Schwalb retorted that Szymkowicz was conflating the responsibilities of the attorney general, the mayor and the DC Council.
One of the sharpest exchanges came during a discussion of nuisance properties. Schwalb argued that Szymkowicz misunderstood the legal threshold required under DC nuisance laws to file complaints. “As attorney general, you don’t get to just make up the rules as you go,” Schwalb said.
Still, the candidates occasionally found common ground. DC should control adult criminal prosecutions instead of relying on the federally appointed US Attorney for DC, both stated. They criticized congressional authority over District affairs. The District, Szymkowicz argued, remains in a “crime crisis.” Congressional resistance to expanding home rule is largely tied to its dismal perceptions of public safety in DC. “We should have a police department that’s fully funded and fully staffed,” he said.
Schwalb agreed about the need to expand local control over prosecution. “We are the only jurisdiction in the country where local crime is not prosecuted by a local prosecutor who is accountable to the people,” he said. However, Congress controls the issue, he pointed out.
The OAG, Schwalb says, is more than a criminal prosecutor. The office plays a central role in maintaining housing affordability, enforcing labor protections, protecting immigrants and defending DC Home Rule.
The Future
The Fair Elections debate may be the candidates’ only joint appearance. A Hill Rag panel with the two candidates was cancelled due to conflicts in Schwalb’s schedule. At a Hill Rag Ward 6 Primary Election Candidates Forum, Szymkowicz spoke for five minutes, criticizing the incumbent’s absence. “He didn’t come to the debate today, which is really frustrating,” Szymkowicz told attendees at the Ward 6 event. “That should tell you something.”
Schwalb countered in an email to the Hill Rag, “For anybody to suggest that I do not care deeply about this race requires turning a blind eye toward my record as a candidate for reelection and the work I’ve continued to do every day as attorney general while running for reelection.” Declaring that “an extended series of debates is not the best use of time” for either an incumbent AG or the voters, he said he will focus on direct voter engagement through meet-and-greets and door-knocking.
Voters now have the opportunity to choose between Szymkowicz and Schwalb. DC Board of Elections has mailed every registered voter a ballot. Drop boxes are open until 8 p.m. the day of DC’s primary elections, June 16.
Read the full Hill Rag Election Guide: https://www.hillrag.com/2026/05/16/the-hill-rag-election-guide/.
