PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner made it official on Tuesday, announcing he will seek a third term in office.
When crime shot up after Krasner was elected the first time, he downplayed statistics or pointed to other factors. However, in making his re-election announcement, Krasner was happy to take credit for improvements in the numbers.
“Last year was a truly exceptional year. We had the largest percent reduction in homicides in Philadelphia history,” he said. “We have the lowest number of homicides in at least the last 15 years and that’s because I can only see 15 years (worth of stats).”
Krasner conceded the drop in homicides is part of a national trend but says Philadelphia is ahead of the curve. He said his goal for a third term would be to move Philadelphia from being chronically violent to consistently safe.
He addressed one of the criticisms his primary opponent, retired Common Pleas Judge Patrick Dugan, has raised: the policy of not prosecuting retail theft under $500. Krasner touted his retail theft task force, which he says targets root causes of retail theft, “surrounding people who are unhoused, surrounding mental illness and surrounding the things they do to survive.”
But for a large part of his announcement, Krasner spoke as though he was running against President Donald Trump.
“We are going to make sure that his little plan to turn a democracy into a monarchy, that his little plan to take over America fails,” he said, even becoming choked up as he recalled how his father fought fascism as a soldier in World War II.
Both Krasner and Dugan have been pleading for higher voter turnout this primary. Fewer than 20% of voters cast ballots in the 2021 district attorney race. Krasner says increasing those numbers would send a message to Republicans in Washington who are trying to unseat progressive district attorneys.
“When they see the turnout and the votes in this election bigger than they have ever seen,” he said, “I know we can do that.”
The winner of the Democratic primary in Philadelphia is usually the winner in November, due to the party’s large registration edge.