PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner won a third term handily Tuesday night in a second matchup of the year with retired Municipal Court Judge Pat Dugan, who ran as a Democrat in the primary, but flipped to Republican for another go.
Heading into election night, Krasner had high confidence in a win. He didn’t have a campaign staff or an election night gathering planned.
Just like the Democratic primary in May, it was an early evening for Dugan. A little more than an hour after polls closed, and with only 10% of the vote counted, The Associated Press called the race, and Dugan took the podium to concede, but did not hesitate to air his grievances toward the district attorney.
“He trolls judges, sneers at other lawyers and tries to intimidate anyone who dares to call out the anarchy he has unleashed on our city,” he said. “He is a bad person who protects bad people.”
In a statement to KYW Newsradio, Krasner, who was out of state on election night, said he would speak about his victory on Wednesday morning.
Krasner was first elected in 2017 as part of a wave of reform prosecutors backed by progressive billionaire George Soros. He ran on a platform that included holding police accountable and opposing the death penalty, cash bail, prosecuting minor nonviolent offenses, and a culture of mass incarceration. The primary drew just 17% of voters. While Dugan lost by 43,000 votes, there were some 800,000 no-shows.
Like some big-city Democrats, Krasner has turned toward pro-public safety messaging, maintaining that he is serious about pursuing violent crime and touting new technologies and strategies that his office is using to solve or prevent crime.
Krasner was elected again in 2021 and faced impeachment charges by state Republicans a year later, who accused him of misbehavior in office. The effort ended in 2024 when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled state lawmakers had improperly tried to stretch the impeachment process across two different legislative sessions.
Crime spiked after Krasner was elected nearly a decade ago, though he often downplayed statistics or pointed to other factors. However, in making his most recent reelection announcement, Krasner pointed toward improved numbers.
“Last year was a truly exceptional year. We had the largest percent reduction in homicides in Philadelphia history,” he said earlier this year. “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 said 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.