Philly DA Larry Krasner believes his campaign can be the beginning of the end for the Trump administration

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

The district attorney of Philadelphia announced his reelection campaign Tuesday, vowing it could be the start of something big for the Democrats nationwide.

Larry Krasner was surrounded by a coalition of politicians, labor leaders and others as he announced his reelection run at Philadelphia’s main public access TV studios near Independence Hall. The two-term district attorney is running for a third term and believes it won’t be a problem for him to win reelection, but the margin of victory could be very important.

“What we can do with this election is register an unheard of number of new voters,” he said. “What we can do with this election is scare some of the folks in Washington, D.C. half to death when they see the turnout and the votes in this election bigger than they have ever seen.”

Krasner won reelection in 2021 with more than 70% of the vote over Republican Chuck Peruto. He dominated Democratic challenger Carlos Vega with nearly 67% of the primary vote four years ago.

“We’re going to win big. We’re going to do it together, we’re going to stand up together and we are going to make sure that even a lawless president, which is what he is, even a president who thinks you can scribble words on a piece of paper and rewrite the Constitution, which is what he is, we are going to make sure that his little plan to take over America fails,” Krasner said.

The district attorney believes a big win for him will set up a midterm victory that will be the end of Republican control of Washington.

“Haters lose. And they’re going to lose and they’re going to lose big,” he said. “And after they lose, we’re going to look back at them and shake our heads in the same way people look back at Joe McCarthy and his phony, lying, Red Scare, and we are going to shake our heads.”

Krasner was surrounded by labor leaders and the more liberal members of City Council. Mayor Cherelle Parker was not in attendance.

City Democratic ward leaders have again decided not to endorse a candidate in the district attorney’s race. They did not endorse Krasner’s first bid for reelection four years ago.

Krasner has at least one fellow Democratic primary opponent so far. Former Philadelphia Judge Patrick Dugan announced his campaign last month.

Dugan started off as a council aide and became in charge of Municipal Courts programs that helped divert people from the judicial system and expunge their records to make it easier for them to find gainful employment.

The primary election is scheduled for May 20.