PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Larry Krasner was elected Philadelphia district attorney in 2017, after running on a platform centered on progressive reforms. Krasner has described his focus as ending mass incarceration by declining prosecution on low-level offenses and prioritizing more serious crimes. He held to many of his promises.
While Krasner's supporters have lauded his reforms, his detractors have blamed his policies for a historic rise in violence in Philadelphia. The city ended the year 2020 with just under 500 homicides, a number it may surpass in 2021. More than 1,400 people have been injured in shootings so far this year.
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Charles "Chuck" Peruto, a criminal defense attorney, announced his candidacy in February, under the condition he would drop out of the race if Krasner lost the Democratic primary.
Peruto has said that, while he's running as a Republican, he's more of a moderate. He has admitted he is running to unseat Krasner. He has a platform of being tough on crime in a way he said his opponent has not been.
"We have a public defender disguised as a district attorney," he said, "and in his own words, he is a public defender with power …. It's about getting Larry Krasner out of there."
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Larry Krasner, Democrat (incumbent):
• Has worked to reduce the population of county jails and the amount of time people spend in prison and on probation and parole
• Wants to end cash bail, which disproportionately punishes families of Black, brown and poor offenders
• Has moved juvenile arrests out of the adult system into juvenile court
• Has ended prosecution of simple drug possession charges
• Began prosecuting police officers for alleged crimes and abuses of power
• Has closed the door to cooperation with ICE, upholding Philadelphia's status as a "sanctuary city"
• Is exploring public health solutions to gun violence
• Approaches the city's drug and opioid crisis as a public health issue, rather than a criminal concern
• Supports establishing safe injection sites
Read more of Krasner's record and policies.
Charles "Chuck" Peruto, Republican:
• Agrees with Krasner on cash bail reform
• Supports prosecuting all drug possession offenses and proposes turning a county jail into a drug rehabilitation center
• Opposes safe injection sites
• Favors the death penalty for special cases
• Supports cooperation with ICE only when undocumented immigrants are convicted of major felonies
• Promises to attack the city's gun violence problem by hiring back prosecutors fired by Krasner to focus entirely on gun crimes
• Supports hiring assistant district attorneys from the Philadelphia area
• Opposes prosecution of police officers
• Wants to stop electing judges
• Challenges mandatory life sentences for first- and second-degree murder, where parole can never be earned
Read more of Peruto's policies.