Democratic nominee for Congress will resign from Council on Monday

D.C.’s Democratic nominee for Congress, Robert White, will resign his D.C. Council seat on Monday to be eligible to take Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s office, according to White’s office announced Thursday.

White will deliver remarks outside of the John A. Wilson Building on Monday at 5 p.m. about his time on the Council.

Earlier this week, a recent opinion by the D.C. attorney general said White must resign in order to eligible.

A little-known law from 1970 that lays out the qualifications for the office clearly states the candidate can hold no other paid public office on the date of his election.

The attorney general’s office told White that in order for him to qualify, he must resign his Council seat before Election Day on Tuesday, City Cast DC first reported.

“We’re continuing to explore options until Monday,” White had told reporters Wednesday. “But I want to be very clear, I’m not going to do anything that’s gonna jeopardize my ability to serve this city in Congress.

“There’s still some open legal questions,” he said. “If we can get a clear enough read by then and there are options, we’ll take those options. If not, I will have to resign. But I don’t agree with the reading … I didn’t expect this interpretation from the attorney general. We continue to have a disagreement. But spoken to many lawyers who read the law as I do, but that’s what happens sometimes.”

White said he learned of the qualification requirement around the time he was filing to run.

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