Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sailed into a third term Tuesday, handily beating Democratic primary challenger Patrick Dugan, a former municipal court judge.
Krasner won with 62.7 percent of the vote.
Krasner, 64, was first elected along with several other progressive prosecutors around the country with the help of funds from Democratic mega-donor George Soros. He followed the progressive philosophy of decarceration, ending cash bail for minor offenses, for example.
His policies against prosecuting shoplifters have arguably driven some retail establishments out of Philadelphia, including many Wawa convenience stores and the Macy’s that occupied the former Wanamaker building, home of an historic pipe organ.
While nationally, other progressive prosecutors have been shown the door, including Chesa Boudin in San Francisco, Kim Gardner in St. Louis and George Gascon in Los Angeles, Krasner has held on and flourished.
In this race, Dugan, who had the backing of many labor unions, ran television commercials promising to restore law and order. Krasner, like many Democrats, seemed to be running against President Donald Trump, rather than his actual opponent.
In one interview, Krasner called Republicans and the president “fundamentally fascists” and “bullies who need to be punched in the face as hard as possible.” After those remarks were published in City and State, state Sen. Greg Rothman, the chair of the state Republican Party, called for U.S. Attorney David Metcalf to investigate Krasner.
Krasner also survived an impeachment attempt, with the state House impeaching him but the Supreme Court nixing the case before he could be tried in the state Senate.
“We have learned that justice makes us safer,” said Krasner during a victory speech at his headquarters. “That’s actually how it goes when you try to do the things the right way with integrity, when you still accept that science applies in this world, when you believe in the potential of human beings to change or to avoid the crime in the first place, you end up on the 20th day of May, Election Day 2025, with the smallest number of homicides in over 50 years.”
Democratic analyst Neil Oxman explained Krasner’s victory by citing his name recognition. While Dugan started the race with “zero name recognition.”
“No one knew who he was,” Oxman said.
“Krasner has a base with progressives,” said Oxman. “And progressives vote more in primaries than (people in) row house communities.”
Krasner was also endorsed by many African American leaders, said Oxman.
“The negative ads against Krasner were really bad,” said Oxman. There were “a million things they could have punched Krasner in the gut for and (they) just did not do it.”
Krasner was also helped by the murder rate falling in Philadelphia over the past year, as in every large city, said Oxman.
“To beat an incumbent in the city, the incumbent has to be God-awful,” said Oxman. “Just like in a criminal case, you have to convict beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Dugan thanked the volunteers who worked to elect him and congratulated Krasner.
“I’m grateful for my loving family for taking this leap with me. I gave this campaign my all,” Dugan said. “Although we came up short on Election Day, I’m proud of what we accomplished, and while I may not be the next district attorney, I will never stop fighting for the values we carried through this campaign. Because in every part of this city—Fairmount to Frankford, Strawberry Mansion to West Philly—I met people who care. Who believe public safety and second chances can walk hand in hand. And who deserve leaders who will meet them with honesty, transparency, and integrity.”
No Republicans ran in the primary in the heavily Democratic city. However, some of them were writing Dugan’s name in the hopes that he might run on the GOP ticket in November. However, Dugan had spurned that idea and appeared too few Republicans wrote in his name in any case.
