PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Former Municipal Court Judge Pat Dugan announced on Saturday that he will run as a Republican for Philadelphia district attorney in the November general election.
Dugan, a Democrat, lost the Democratic primary in May to incumbent Larry Krasner, but gathered enough write-in votes — about 6,000 — to appear on the Republican ballot, according to a statement from his campaign. The requirement is 1,000 to be added to the GOP ticket.
Dugan filed his paperwork to run as a Republican at City Hall Monday morning, where he emphasized that he is not pretending to be a Republican. Rather, he is taking advantage of a gift from the Republican Party — the write-in campaign.
He said the paperwork he filed to run as the Republican DA candidate was nearly identical to his filing to run in the Democratic primary against Krasner.
“I still live in the same place. Nothing’s changed except I get a rematch,” he said, and “the party that appears on the ballot. I’m still Pat Dugan, the same person who quit his job as a judge to step down and take on the worst elected official in the history of Philadelphia.”
Dugan lost the primary by 40,000 votes — close to a third of those cast — in a low turnout election. He thinks the general election could be different.
“Now the entire city has an opportunity to vote,” he said. “Not just a few voters, but the entire city’s now eligible, and I think we can have a different outcome.”
In some ways, Dugan has a tougher challenge. He had the support of the building trades in the primary, but they are now backing Krasner. Dugan admitted his campaign is short on cash, but he’s counting on a better voter turnout.
“I’m just hoping the citizens of Philadelphia come out and vote and that the people support me to help change the city.”
In the primary, there was no Republican candidate for district attorney. Krasner was set to head to the general election uncontested, but now he faces Dugan in a rematch.