👋🏼 Cuneyt here, back with the talk of the town in local politics.

Conventional wisdom holds to expect the unexpected in D.C. politics.

• Yet in a town of improbable comebacks and surprise downfalls, the Board of Elections’ declaration on Monday that leading attorney general candidate Kenyan McDuffie is ineligible for the job still flabbergasted the city’s political set.

“It was jaw-dropping,” said Paul Zukerberg, a lawyer who led the crusade to hold the first-ever election for an independent attorney general in 2014.

Why it matters: The next AG will take over a 600-person law office, inheriting a perch that Karl Racine used to launch suits against Big Tech and other high-profile targets, and to elevate D.C.'s profile nationally.

📞 What I’m hearing: Today, McDuffie's lawyers, led by local bigwig Thorn Pozen and former DNC general counsel Joe Sandler, plan to ask the D.C. Court of Appeals to overturn the ruling that the Ward 5 council member didn't qualify for the ballot because he wasn't an "actively engaged" attorney.

💡 Meanwhile, in a last-ditch effort, Wilson Building sources tell me that some infuriated McDuffie supporters outside his campaign are lobbying D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson and key lawmakers to clarify the law, ensuring McDuffie can run.

• Nine votes are needed to pass an emergency bill. At least one council member, Elissa Silverman, tells me she won't support an emergency bill.

Behind the scenes: Talk of McDuffie's eligibility had long simmered.

• The question even arose when Racine met with each of the candidates as he deliberated who to endorse in February, two sources tell me.

Read the full column.

Works by Picasso, a mink coat, artwork of herself, and a drawing by her grandson are all part of a collection of items once owned by the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and being auctioned by an Alexandria auction house.

The Potomack Company opened catalogs earlier this month of more than 150 items the late justice kept in her Watergate apartment and court chambers. All proceeds will benefit the Washington National Opera.

How it came together: After her death in September 2020, Ginsburg’s family contacted the opera about auctioning some of her personal items, says opera director Francesca Zambello.

• The late justice was a notable fan of the opera and attended every opening night, sitting in an aisle seat close to the stage and usually accompanied by a colleague — most often Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. Zambello considered Ginsburg part of the company.
• Last year, Ginsburg’s family gifted the opera her personal piano.

What they’re saying: According to Potomack Company owner Elizabeth Wainstein, the auction includes items across varying price points.

• On the high end, there’s a Picasso plate with a current bid of $13,000. A perhaps more affordable option is a concert poster from a show featuring RBG’s grandson with a current bid of $20.
• “She had pieces that are appealing to a very diverse community and [the auction] is accessible to everyone. So, that's been the message that she sent in her legal career, that everyone has a place at the table,” Wainstein says.

The bottom line: The first auction, which will include Ginsburg’s art collection, is open until April 27. The second auction, featuring items from Ginsburg’s home and office, is open until April 28.

See more photos of items being auctioned.

Masks are now optional on most forms of public transportation. Although after what feels like an eternity wearing them, some passengers may still opt to mask up out of habit or to protect themselves or others.

Here’s where masks are no longer required:

• DCA
• IAD
• BWI
• Uber
• Lyft
• Metro stations (and trains)
• Metrobuses
• Amtrak stations (and trains)

⏳ We handpick the best among the rest with our local job listings.

1. Experienced Electrical Design & Analysis Engineer at Boeing.
2. Digital Media Assistant at Bipartisan Policy Center.
3. Analyst, Administrative Assistant at CRE Financial Group.

Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.

Hiring? Post a Job.

The numbers look good for entrepreneurs in the D.C. area.

After a dip during the pandemic, venture capital investment shot up to $1.8 billion in the first quarter of 2022, new data from PitchBook shows.

The big picture: D.C. is ranked fifth in the nation for VC activity so far this year.

• There were 117 deals in total during Q1.
• The 2020s have seen a dramatic increase in venture capital investing so far, eclipsing $1 billion about two years ago.

Even as Silicon Valley remains the undisputed top startup financing hub, a number of emerging hubs around the country are attracting more dollars and slowing growing their piece of the venture pie, writes Axios’ Kia Kokalitcheva.

⚖️ Johnny Depp fans waited outside the Fairfax County Courthouse early yesterday morning to see the actor take the stand in his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard. (Washingtonian)

🌟 The D.C. region is well-represented in American Idol’s top 14 with two Virginians and one Marylander. (WJLA)

🏚 ICYMI the Fairfax “squatter home” officially sold for $805,000 ($5k over asking), according to listing agent Zinta Rodgers-Rickert. (Axios)