Former Democratic challenger Pat Dugan is now Republican challenger in race for Philadelphia district attorney

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Voters might get a sense of déjà vu when they cast their votes for Philadelphia district attorney in November.

After losing the Democratic primary to incumbent DA Larry Krasner, former judge Pat Dugan will be on the ballot as a Republican to challenge Krasner again. Dugan made his move official Monday morning, filing the necessary paperwork with the city’s Board of Elections.

Dugan said he thought long and hard about the decision to run as a Republican, even though he’s been a lifelong Democrat.

“I’m running as an independent Democrat. Basically, running as a Philadelphian,” he said. “That’s who I’m running for and I’m running for every single person in the city. Wasn’t running for Democrats. I wasn’t running for Republicans. I wasn’t running for independents. I’m running for all Philadelphians.”

Dugan picked up right where he left off in his criticism of Krasner from back in the spring.

“He’s a non-prosecutor, hasn’t done a job in eight years, and the statistics over the last eight years show it,” Dugan said. “But again, we have that Philly shrug. People have to stop it. People have to come out and vote.”

During the primary campaign, Krasner pushed back against Dugan’s criticism, including during a forum hosted by WHYY News in April. At the time, Krasner noted that crime overall is down, with the homicide rate at a 50-year low. While retail thefts are still high, they were lower than the year before, he said.

Krasner took 64% of the vote over Dugan in the May primary, but because of an unusual political strategy, Dugan is able to switch parties and still be on the ballot. City Republican leaders urged GOP voters in the primary to write-in votes for Dugan, and some 7,000 people did.

Dugan said that although he doesn’t have much in the form of campaign funding, he might struggle to win the support of city unions since he’s running as a Republican.

Krasner, who normally meets with the media Mondays, didn’t schedule a press conference for this Monday.