The Nebraska Republican Party is alleging that Adam Morfeld, a candidate for Lancaster County Attorney, hasn’t been actively practicing law while serving in the Nebraska Legislature, running a nonprofit and working as a political consultant.

Morfeld described the challenge filed with Lancaster County Election Commissioner David Shively as “a desperate attempt by the Republican Party to keep me off the ballot because they are afraid I will win this year,” he said in a tweet, adding that he has actively engaged in the practice of law since he was admitted to the bar in 2012.

The challenge, which was also brought by the Lancaster County Republican Party, points to a requirement for the office that the person has both been admitted to the practice of law for the last two years and that they must have “practiced law actively in this state during such two-year period.”

Dave Lopez, a partner at Husch Blackwell, which wrote the letter to Shively making the objection, said there is no statutory definition for the phrase “practiced law,” but pointed to Nebraska Supreme Court rules defining “substantially engaged in the practice of law.”

The court rule describes substantial engagement in legal practice as employment as an attorney in a law firm or similar entity; employment at a corporation or other entity primarily providing legal counsel, drafting legal documents or giving advice with respect to the law or primarily preparing legal cases; employment as an attorney for a government entity doing the same as in a private setting; serving as a judge or other official legal position; or teaching at an accredited law school.

The term is used, for instance, in a court rule regarding applications for admission by attorneys to the practice of law in Nebraska. Class 1-B applicants “have actively and substantially engaged in the practice of law in another state, territory, or district of the United States” or been in-house counsel.

In the objection letter, the GOP alleges Morfeld hasn’t met the court rule’s definition criteria.

 “Neither his employment as a nonprofit organization executive, nor his legislative service, nor his adjunct teaching at educational institutions which are not law schools, nor his work as a political consultant meet any of the definition’s subcategories,” according to the letter sent last Wednesday.

Nebraska Republican Party Chairman Dan Welch, a practicing attorney in Omaha, said in a statement that Morfeld isn’t qualified.

“Adam Morfeld wants to serve as prosecutor for Lancaster County, yet the record shows he does not meet the minimum requirement to hold this office,” Welch said. “County attorneys are at the heart of the justice system that protects our communities, and it’s critical that any candidate meet those requirements.”

Morfeld said on Twitter that he has been “engaged in public interest law and fighting for Nebraskans individual voting rights since 2012,” and he noted that he manages the legal team at Civic Nebraska, a nonprofit he founded.

“I managed the legal team that challenged the constitutionality of our election commissioner statutes. I was a part of the legal team that litigated the constitutionality of our medical marijuana petitions, and I serve on the Judiciary Committee of the Nebraska Legislature,” Morfled said.