Former Philly judge announces run for district attorney, setting up likely Democratic primary challenge

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

Former Philadelphia Judge Patrick Dugan announced Tuesday that he will run for district attorney, setting up a likely Democratic primary between him and incumbent Larry Krasner.

Dugan, who resigned from his long-held position as a judge of the Philadelphia Municipal Court last month, pitched himself as someone who will be tougher on lower-level crime and an ally to the city’s small business community.

Flanked by the leader of one of the city’s most influential trade unions, Dugan blamed Krasner’s office for allowing theft and other minor offenses to go unchecked, leading to businesses leaving the city. In 2024, Krasner’s office changed a policy so that thefts under $500 are no longer treated as lower-level offenses.

“Wawas are closing. They’re closing in Center City,” Dugan said. “We can have all the politically correct reasons for why it’s happening and all that. But the reality of it is it’s because they couldn’t control the retail theft.”

He also pointed to Macy’s in Center City, which will close its doors in March. While the department store chain announced its closure alongside plans to trim 150 stores through fiscal year 2026, Dugan said retail theft in the area “has to come into play, no matter what people say out there in the press.”

Dugan said he also does not believe that Krasner’s policies have led to the recent decline in Philadelphia’s homicide rate. In 2024, 269 people were killed, according to Philadelphia police, the fewest recorded murders in a decade.

“If you look at what some of the criminologists and sociologists are saying, it’s about a pendulum, it’s about attrition, it’s about some other things that are occurring on the street,” Dugan said.

While Krasner has won the past two elections handily positioned as one of a handful of progressive prosecutors focused on a more holistic approach to criminal justice, he has faced criticism from some who believe his policies are too lenient on lower-level criminals. Krasner has not yet announced whether he will run for re-election this year.

According to city statistics, the number of reported retail thefts saw a significant increase in 2024 compared to 2023.

Dugan said that Krasner’s office has been too lenient on violent offenders, as well, pointing to the case where a 29-year-old man was sentenced to a minimum prison sentence of 3 ½ years after pleading guilty to shooting a store owner with an AK-47 during an attempted robbery in 2018.

The defendant, Jovaun Patterson, would later face federal charges related to the shooting, with federal prosecutors criticizing Krasner for offering “sweetheart deals to violent defendants.”

“If it’s a good person having a bad day, we want to do the empathetic, holistic type of approach to justice,” Dugan said. “But when somebody is running around with weapons of war going after our citizens, we can’t do that. Our district attorney’s job is to make our streets safe.”

Ryan Boyer, business manager for the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, said Dugan’s election would more directly support Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel and Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration. Parker ran on a platform of being tougher on crime in 2023, pledging she would bring back “lawfulness” when she was sworn in as the city’s 100th mayor last year.

“In these times like this, Philadelphia is on an upswing. You have murders are down, crime is down,” Boyer said. “And it could be down more if we had a partner.”

He added that electing Dugan would not be a repudiation of the progressive policies that have seen diversionary initiatives keep certain lower-level defenders from serving time in jail or prison.

But Boyer said that in neighborhoods like Kensington, where many have criticized the open-air drug markets that have garnered national attention, Krasner “is not a partner” to the mayor’s attempts to clean up the area.

Dugan unsuccessfully ran for judge of the Pennsylvania Superior County in 2023, losing in the Democratic primary against challengers Jill Beck and Timika Lane.

Krasner won re-election in 2021, defeating Republican challenger Chuck Peruto, a criminal defense attorney, with more than double the votes of Peruto. He also fended off ex-prosecutor Carlos Vega in the Democratic primary that year.

With Philadelphia Democrats holding a substantial registration lead over city Republicans, the Democratic primary will likely serve as the main battle for who will win the district attorney’s race in November.