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Philadelphia District Attorney election, 2025
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| 2025 Philadelphia elections |
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| Election dates |
| Filing deadline: August 1, 2025 |
| Primary election: May 20, 2025 General election: November 4, 2025 |
| Election stats |
| Offices up: District attorney |
| Total seats up: 1 |
| Other municipal elections |
| U.S. municipal elections, 2025 |
Incumbent Lawrence Krasner (D) and Patrick F. Dugan (R) are running in the general election for Philadelphia district attorney on November 4, 2025.
Krasner defeated Dugan 64% to 36% in the Democratic primary on May 20.[1][2] Dugan also won the Republican nomination as a write-in candidate and announced on August 9 that he would run as the Republican nominee.[3]
Krasner was first elected in 2017. Krasner is campaigning on his record in office, saying in an interview, "I'm running on my record of making Philadelphia safer while also creating a more fair criminal justice system and tackling mass incarceration."[4] His campaign website says he will "Expand diversion opportunities for those charged with felony offenses where addressing trauma, mental illness, or substance use will seriously mitigate the likelihood of future violence and crime."[5] Krasner has also campaigned on his opposition to President Donald Trump's (R) administration, and his campaign website says that he would "protect our freedoms by standing up to Donald Trump and his billionaire friends and ensure that everyone is held accountable under the law."[6]
Dugan is a former judge on the Philadelphia Municipal Court. His campaign website says he would expand criminal prosecution "with a focus on detention, diversion, and deterrence to drastically reduce repeat offenders in violent crimes."[7] Dugan says that he is running in the general election to give voters a choice and that turnout in the general election is more reflective of the city: "In the primary, you have to be a Democrat to vote... I think everybody should have an opportunity to vote... It’s a wider pool of voters, and I think Philadelphians deserve an opportunity to actually have a race."[8] Although appearing on the ballot as a Republican, Dugan says he is not running as a partisan candidate, and described himself as "running as an independent Democrat... I’m running for every single person in the city."[9]
Observers have compared Dugan's campaign to that of Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala (D), who, in 2023, lost his primary but won re-election on the Republican ballot line. According to Northeast Times' Tom Waring, "Republicans and other supporters of Dugan hope to replicate a somewhat-similar situation that happened in Allegheny County... moderate Democratic DA Stephen Zappala was challenged in the primary by a public defender named Matt Dugan... However, Republicans wrote in Zappala, and his name appeared on the GOP ticket in the general election. In a turnout much higher than in the primary, Zappala prevailed with 51.4 percent of the vote."[10]
Former supporters of Dugan have switched to Krasner, such as the Philadelphia building trades unions, which supported Dugan in the primary.[11] Philadelphia Democratic Party chair Robert Brady (D), who did not endorse Krasner in the primary or in past elections, offered his support after Dugan decided to run as a Republican, saying, "As a Democratic ward leader, I will do everything in my power to re-elect our Democratic nominee, Larry Krasner, as Philadelphia’s District Attorney."[3]
Ronald Castille (R) was the last Republican elected as Philadelphia district attorney, winning a second term in 1989.[12]
This article covers the November 4 general election. For coverage of the May 20 primary, click the link below:
Candidates and results
General election
General election for Philadelphia District Attorney
Incumbent Lawrence Krasner and Patrick F. Dugan are running in the general election for Philadelphia District Attorney on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
 | Lawrence Krasner (D) | |
 | Patrick F. Dugan (R) | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Philadelphia District Attorney
Incumbent Lawrence Krasner defeated Patrick F. Dugan in the Democratic primary for Philadelphia District Attorney on May 20, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lawrence Krasner | 64.4 | 97,636 |
| Patrick F. Dugan | 35.5 | 53,849 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 211 | ||
| Total votes: 151,696 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Philadelphia District Attorney
Patrick F. Dugan advanced from the Republican primary for Philadelphia District Attorney on May 20, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Patrick F. Dugan (Write-in) | 100.0 | 6,167 |
| Total votes: 6,167 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Pennsylvania
Candidate comparison
Candidate profiles
This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.
Party: Democratic Party
Incumbent: Yes
Political Office:
- District Attorney of Philadelphia (Assumed office: 2018)
Biography: Krasner received his bachelor's degree in Spanish language and literature from the University of Chicago in 1983 and his law degree from Stanford in 1987. After graduating, Krasner worked as an attorney, both as a public defender and in private practice.
Show sources
Sources: Larry Krasner 2025 campaign website, "Homepage," accessed March 31, 2025; The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Philly DA Larry Krasner tries to harness Democratic rage toward Trump as he launches his third bid for office," February 18, 2025; City & State Pennsylvania, "Q&A with Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner," March 25, 2025; LinkedIn, "Larry Krasner," accessed April 2, 2025; The Philadelphia Tribune, "Voters choose criminal justice reformer with plenty of attitude," November 5, 2021
Party: Republican Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office:
- Philadelphia Municipal Court judge (2007-2024)
Biography: Dugan received his law degree from Rutgers-Camden Law School. He previously worked as an attorney, served in the army, and worked as a municipal judge.
Show sources
Ballotpedia Candidate Connection
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No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.
You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:
Candidate ads
Lawrence Krasner
Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Lawrence Krasner while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.
Patrick F. Dugan
Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Patrick F. Dugan while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.
Endorsements
This section lists noteworthy endorsements issued in this election, including those made by high-profile individuals and organizations, cross-party endorsements, and endorsements made by newspaper editorial boards. It also includes a bulleted list of links to official lists of endorsements for any candidates who published that information on their campaign websites. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please click here.
Click the links below to see endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites, if available.
Election spending
Campaign finance
Campaign finance can be found on the City of Philadelphia's Campaign Finance website. Click here to view it.
Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[13][14][15]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
Election context
Ballot access requirements
Information on ballot access requirements can be found on the Philadelphia City Commissioner's website
Past elections
2021
General election
General election for Philadelphia District Attorney
Incumbent Lawrence Krasner defeated Chuck Peruto in the general election for Philadelphia District Attorney on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lawrence Krasner (D) | 71.8 | 155,102 |
| Chuck Peruto (R) | 27.9 | 60,304 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 570 | ||
| Total votes: 215,976 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Philadelphia District Attorney
Incumbent Lawrence Krasner defeated Carlos Vega in the Democratic primary for Philadelphia District Attorney on May 18, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lawrence Krasner | 66.8 | 128,958 |
| Carlos Vega | 33.1 | 63,953 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 170 | ||
| Total votes: 193,081 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Philadelphia District Attorney
Chuck Peruto advanced from the Republican primary for Philadelphia District Attorney on May 18, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Chuck Peruto | 95.0 | 11,199 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 5.0 | 595 | ||
| Total votes: 11,794 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2017
General election
Democratic primary
- ☐ Rich Negrin
- ☐ Joe Khan
- ☐ Teresa Carr Deni
- ☐ Michael Untermeyer
- ☑ Lawrence Krasner
- ☐ Tariq El-Shabazz
- ☐ John O'Neill
Republican primary
About the city
- See also: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is a city in Pennsylvania. The city is consolidated with Philadelphia County, which means that the city and county share a government and boundaries. It is the center of the Delaware Valley Metropolitan Area. As of 2020, its population was 1,603,797.
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government
The city of Philadelphia uses a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.[16][17]
Demographics
The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.
| Demographic Data for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | ||
|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | |
| Population | 1,603,797 | 13,002,700 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 134 | 44,741 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White | 39.3% | 79.4% |
| Black/African American | 41.4% | 11.1% |
| Asian | 7.4% | 3.5% |
| Native American | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| Pacific Islander | 0% | 0% |
| Other (single race) | 7.3% | 2.4% |
| Multiple | 4.3% | 3.4% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 15.1% | 7.6% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate | 85.7% | 91% |
| College graduation rate | 31.2% | 32.3% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income | $49,127 | $63,627 |
| Persons below poverty level | 23.1% | 12% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020). | ||
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
2025 battleground elections
- See also: Battlegrounds
This is a battleground election. Other 2025 battleground elections include:
- Arizona's 7th Congressional District special election, 2025 (July 15 Democratic primary)
- Virginia Attorney General election, 2025
- Virginia's 11th Congressional District special election, 2025 (June 28 Democratic firehouse primary)
See also
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ New York Times, "Philadelphia District Attorney Primary Election Results," May 20, 2025
- ↑ WHYY, "Pennsylvania 2025 primary election results," May 20, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 BillyPenn, "DA candidate Dugan to run as a Republican, enraging Dems ," August 11, 2025
- ↑ Axios, "Meet Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner," May 19, 2025
- ↑ Lary Krasner 2025 campaign website, "Plans for the Future," accessed September 8, 2025
- ↑ Larry Krasner 2025 campaign website, "Homepage," accessed September 8, 2025
- ↑ Patrick Dugan 2025 campaign website, "PLAN FOR JUSTICE," accessed September 8, 2025
- ↑ Broad and Liberty, "An interview with Judge Patrick Dugan," August 21, 2025
- ↑ WHYY, "Former Democratic challenger Pat Dugan is now Republican challenger in race for Philadelphia district attorney," August 11, 2025
- ↑ Northeast Times, "Dugan vs. Krasner, Part 2," August 24, 2025
- ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Philly’s building trades unions have turned against Pat Dugan as he runs against DA Larry Krasner as a Republican," August 22, 2025
- ↑ The Downballot, "Morning Digest: Texas GOP gerrymander may spark generational clash," August 12, 2025
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
- ↑ City of Philadelphia, "Government Organization," accessed October 29, 2014
- ↑ Philadelphia City Charter, 1.101-102, accessed October 29, 2014
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