D.C. voters set to choose their first elected attorney general Tuesday District voters are choosing their first elected attorney general Tuesday, pushing a low-octane administrative job into the political limelight. Throughout the past 40 years of local self-government, the job of attorney general has been held by a succession of well-respected lawyers from mostly big-firm, corporate practices who dealt with municipal legal matters large and small on behalf of the mayors who appointed them. The five candidates - Lorie Masters, Karl A. Racine, Edward "Smitty" Smith, Lateefah Williams and Paul Zukerberg, all Democrats - have found themselves on a circuit of door-knocking, meet-and-greets and candidate forums where they have laid out expansive visions for the office. Jim Nichols, 54, of Takoma, said at the polls Tuesday that he chose Masters: "I liked the causes she worked for - equality and equal rights and helping people in the transgender community. She fights for all people in DC. Ronda Smith, 44, voted for Racine: "I looked at his record and I was pretty comfortable with that." The politicization of the office is by design: It was conceived as an independent center of power to serve as a check on the mayor. But just how powerful it will be is an unsettled question. The office will come with relatively few resources compared with the rest of city hall - about 300 lawyers vs. the more than 30,000 workers who report to the mayor - and a relatively small set of responsibilities. That hasn't stopped the candidates from addressing big issues that might seem to be the policymaking domains of the mayor and D.C. Council. Racine issued a mailer bearing a photo of smiling children and this banner headline: "Karl Racine Values Education." Smith has pledged to reform the District's juvenile-justice system. Masters said she would push for the appointment of a permanent D.C. rental-housing administrator, while Zukerberg and Williams have made bold statements about juvenile justice, housing and other matters not entirely - perhaps not even remotely - under the new post's control. District lawyers prosecute misdemeanor crimes, including most drunken-driving cases. They give legal advice to and handle commercial transactions for the city. They establish and enforce child-support orders - though there has been talk of removing that function from the office. The bulk of the personnel defend the city in litigation. For most of the office's existence, the city's top lawyer has had the title "corporation counsel." The race has otherwise turned on questions of experience, advocacy and identity. Zukerberg, 56, held a small advantage in a recent public poll - one he probably earned through his court battle against a proposed four-year delay of the attorney general election. Since winning the case, Zukerberg emphasized his outsider status and a focus on social justice. His opponents have suggested that management experience is crucial to the job, and Zukerberg - a sole practitioner for most of his career - suffers in comparison in that regard. Williams, 37, is relatively lacking in management and courtroom experience, and she has raised the least money of the candidates. But as an openly gay African American woman, she has campaigned on being more "community oriented" in reaching out to neglected populations. Smith, 34, is the youngest candidate in the race, but he has amassed a considerable campaign war chest and earned several notable endorsements, including nods from major labor unions. He has emphasized his personal story in his campaign materials and appearances: how he went from a disadvantaged childhood in Anacostia to Harvard Law School to mid-level agency appointments in the Obama administration. Racine, 51, leads in fundraising - including nearly a half-million dollars of his own money - and has the backing of several pillars of the city's big-firm legal community, plus former president Bill Clinton. The son of Haitian immigrants who was a college basketball standout at Penn, he has also touted a personal story rooted in his upbringing in the city. His establishment bona fides come from six years as managing partner of the 600-lawyer Venable firm - a stint that has burnished his claims to management experience but has also opened him to suggestions that he would be too cozy with entrenched interests, including some campaign donors and some represented by Venable's lobbying practice. Masters, 59, has focused sharply on anti-corruption efforts, consumer protection and D.C. voting rights. She is a litigator for insurance claimants who has served on the boards of local advocacy nonprofit groups. DeNeen Brown contributed to this report.