Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner won the city’s Democratic primary on Tuesday against his opponent, former judge Pat Dugan.
Krasner’s primary victory all but guarantees he will win election to a third term as Philadelphia’s head prosecutor. The city’s population is overwhelmingly registered Democrat, and its primaries are widely considered the de facto official election because their winners usually win the general election in November. Philadelphia has had a Republican district attorney only once since 1974, over 34 years ago in 1991, when Ronald Castille held the office.
Krasner has enjoyed enormous support in the city insofar as currently there are no Republican candidates set to face him in November’s general election. Despite his widespread support and political dominance, Krasner has been a lightning rod of criticism during his time in office.
First elected to the office in 2017, after his predecessor was forced to resign after being indicted on 23 counts of bribery, extortion, and fraud, Krasner first drew national attention when it was revealed that left-wing billionaire and political activist George Soros contributed nearly $2 million to his campaign. After Krasner implemented radical left-wing criminal justice reforms, Philadelphia had more homicides in 2021 than ever before in its over-300-year history. The city also experienced a record number of carjackings under Krasner’s watch. Despite this, he won his reelection bid that year in a landslide.
In 2022, Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives voted to impeach Krasner in November 2022, mostly along party lines, 107-85.
“By impeaching Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, we put ourselves on the record that we stand with the people of Philadelphia who have been living in fear for their lives and the safety of themselves and their families,” House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff said at the time.
“What is clear is that the Philadelphia district attorney, through his improper use of prosecutorial discretion, has implemented policies and mismanaged his office in such a way that its purposeful ineffectiveness in combatting the crime and violence crisis gripping the city has contributed to the problem itself,” Benninghoff added. “We did not take this path lightly or with joy and eagerness. But the impeachment of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is without a doubt the right thing to do.”
Krasner rejected the Pennsylvania Republicans’ impeachment effort. He called it an “anti-democratic authoritarian effort.”
“They have impeached me without presenting a single shred of evidence connecting our policies to any uptick in crime,” Krasner said at the time. “We were never given the opportunity to defend our ideas and policies – policies I would have been proud to explain. That Pennsylvania Republicans willfully avoided hearing the facts about my office is shameful.”
“History will harshly judge this anti-democratic authoritarian effort to erase Philly’s votes – votes by Black, brown, and broke people in Philadelphia. And voters will have the last word,” the Soros-funded district attorney added.
Pennsylvania’s courts eventually blocked Krasner’s impeachment efforts.
First, in January 2023, a Commonwealth Court ruled that Pennsylvania’s House articles of impeachment were unconstitutional.
“Regardless of whether any of the House’s concerns have substantive merit, it remains that such disagreements, standing alone, are not enough to create a constitutionally sound basis for impeaching and removing [Krasner],” Judge Ellen Ceisler opined.
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Then, in September 2024, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court ruled that the original articles of impeachment were no longer valid and ended once that year’s legislative term concluded.
“The impeachment effort of DA Krasner is dead, null, void, over,” said John Summers, Krasner’s attorney.