Brad Bondi, brother of Attorney General Pam Bondi, experienced a landslide loss in a campaign to become the next president of the D.C. Bar Association.

Brad Bondi’s participation in the local race attracted historic turnout and unusual national scrutiny due to his ties to the White House. This elicited accusations from Democrats that he would use the position to wage partisan warfare against the Trump administration’s foes.

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The D.C. Bar Association released the results of the election on Monday, revealing a crushing loss for Brad Bondi to employment attorney Diane Seltzer, who had accused his sister of using her position as attorney general to spur fear in the legal community for “just doing our own jobs.” 

D.C. Bar CEO Robert Spagnoletti announced Brad Bondi earned 9.1% of votes, or 3,490 votes, compared to 34,982 ballots cast for Seltzer. 

Brad Bondi, a partner at the criminal defense firm Paul Hastings, said he was “disgusted” by allegations launched at him during the campaign in a statement to Bloomberg Law responding to his loss. 

“I am disgusted by how rabid partisans lurched this election into the political gutter, turning a professional campaign into baseless attacks, identity politics, and partisan recrimination,” he said Monday. “Never before has a DC Bar election been leveraged along partisan lines in this way, an explicit call for members to vote based not on what’s best for the institution but according to their political affiliations.”

Seltzer marked her decisive victory by saying she “trusted that our members would elect a president-elect who they know will be fierce for them and hear them with respect to the issues that matter.” 

Seltzer and Bondi competed during the campaign to clinch a three-year term to replace incumbent D.C. Bar President Shaun Snyder, the CEO of the National Association of State Treasurers. Voting in the D.C. Bar election began on April 15, giving members until early June to turn in their ballots. 

The campaign received “extraordinary” turnout, Spagnoletti said during a press call Monday afternoon that noted a record approximately 38,600 ballots were turned in, up from roughly 7,500 in the last election.

“Dozens of D.C. Bar members put themselves forward for leadership positions during the call for nominations, and each candidate on the slate is very well qualified to serve in a leadership role,” Spagnoletti said on the call that emphasized the association’s “apolitical” nature. 

Bondi had touted his legal expertise and experience in leadership positions with the D.C. Bar as he knocked accusations that he would politicize the association. 

“As an active member of the D.C. Bar for 26 years, I’ve also been elected twice to the steering committee of the D.C. Bar section on Corporations, Finance, and Securities Law and have devoted over 20 years to D.C. Bar-sponsored pro bono work,” he said. “This isn’t about politics; I’m running to help strengthen our profession and support members of the Bar no matter what their beliefs or backgrounds.” 

National Democratic-aligned power players disagreed. 

PAM BONDI’S BROTHER’S RACE TO LEAD DC BAR STOKES CONTROVERSY

Trump is trying to “[seat] the bar with his allies,” ​​civil rights activist Al Sharpton agreed in late April. 

“He absolutely seems to be obsessed with trying to just burn the legal system and the checks and balances as we’ve known them to the ground,” he warned.