Larry Krasner runs away with Philadelphia District Attorney primary

Larry Krasner – the progressive prosecutor perpetually perturbing Republicans in Harrisburg and Washington – is now positioned to become just Philadelphia’s second district attorney to serve more than two terms since the current Home Rule Charter was adopted in the early 1950s after a convincing primary win over Democratic challenger and former jurist Patrick Dugan. 

Philadelphia’s Democratic District Attorney took an early lead over Dugan as soon as polls closed and held a 61-39 lead when The Associated Press called the race shortly after 9:45 p.m. 

Dugan, thought of as Krasner’s most well-funded and toughest challenger yet, is a veteran and former municipal court judge who received an endorsement from the powerful Philadelphia Building & Construction Trades Council and other unions. 

Per the latest campaign filing reports, Dugan’s total expenditures were nearly $520,000, while Krasner spent just over $200,000. Despite the spending advantage, Krasner’s record and name recognition ultimately proved too much for Dugan to overcome. 

“You cannot just buy an election,” Krasner said at his watch party Tuesday night, touching on his campaign’s donations compared to Dugan’s. He said that despite his smaller donation numbers and total spending, his commitment to “stand up to defend democracy” and “truth” are key parts to a winning campaign. 

“We said in 2017 that justice makes us safer … 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,” Krasner added. 

At Krasner’s Election Night Party in Center City’s Graham Building, Philadelphia City Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke, a Working Families Party member, referred to Krasner’s victory as evidence of voters expressing a “clear understanding” of the “unique challenges” facing the city. 

“You get elected once on the waves of a reform movement. You get elected twice with a mandate. If you get elected three times, people are not confused about what we need to address here,” O’Rourke told City & State Tuesday night. 

Dugan, who held his event at the Sprinkler Fitters Local 692 Hall in Northeast Philadelphia, captured the wards in that section of the city, as well as the 26th and 39th wards in South Philadelphia. Everywhere else, Krasner came out on top. 

In his concession statement, Dugan congratulated Krasner, adding: "For the sake of our neighborhoods, our families, and the soul of this city—I truly hope he succeeds. The people who supported me did so because they’re tired of being ignored. They want safer streets, real consequences for gun violence, and a justice system that looks out for small business owners. I hope he heard them. I hope he takes that message to heart. Because the future of this city depends on it."

Talk on the trail

Krasner, who highlighted decreasing homicide rates in the city throughout the campaign as evidence of the success of his approach, once again ran without the backing of the Democratic City Committee and other centrist and moderate Democrats. 

Dugan, who avoided the “tough-on-crime” label, pitched himself as the alternative to Krasner by promising to deliver justice and equity through diversionary programs while still convicting retail theft and gun cases—two areas where Dugan said Krasner has failed the city. 

The campaign turned personal at times, with Dugan stressing his upbringing and knowledge of Philadelphia and what it would take to bring it back to its glory days. 

“I’m not trying to make sure that I have a long career as a district attorney, nor do I want to be the mayor or the governor. All I want to do is help make our city safer for my grandchildren and for other people’s grandchildren,” Dugan told City & State in March. “The city’s always been gritty, but (I want it to be) a little bit safer for us to play around on our damn streets, and that just isn’t happening.”

Krasner, meanwhile, said mistreatment of individuals who are unhoused or dealing with addiction is a large contributor to the city’s crime issues. 

“We have to stay the course with (reducing gun violence), but we also have to address what I would describe as kind of a perfect storm of mishandling mental health issues, mishandling the issues of unhoused people and mishandling addiction – especially addiction to opioids that are the direct result of Big Pharma production of pharmaceutical opioids in the United States,” Krasner told City & State. 

The two also engaged in a debate tit-for-tat, which resulted in both Democratic candidates failing to meet on live television. 

Turnout and takeaways

While primary elections often have low voter turnout, scenes around the city on Tuesday gave the perception that polls were quieter than usual. 

Omar Sabir, chair of the Philadelphia City Commissioners, said at South Jazz Kitchen on North Broad Street that the day was “slow, very slow,” noting turnout as of midday looked like it was on track to be lower than in 2021, when turnout comprised an anemic 224,000 voters. 

The Philadelphia Republican Party, which didn’t field a candidate in this race, is running a write-in campaign in Tuesday’s primary to nominate Dugan to their ticket in November. But Dugan, according to Axios, is not coordinating with the GOP on the campaign, and he has not committed to running as a Republican. 

The winner of Tuesday night’s election will be the presumed district attorney, barring any long-shot write-in candidates making the ballot for November’s general election.