Philadelphia District Attorney election, 2025 (May 20 Democratic primary)
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| 2025 Philadelphia elections |
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| Election dates |
| Filing deadline: January 6, 2025 (retention candidates), March 11, 2025 (primary candidates), and August 1, 2025 (general election candidates) |
| Primary election: May 20, 2025 General election: November 4, 2025 |
| Election stats |
| Offices up: Controller. district attorney, court of common pleas judges, and municipal court judges |
| Total seats up: 1 |
| Other municipal elections |
| U.S. municipal elections, 2025 |
Incumbent Lawrence Krasner (D) defeated Patrick F. Dugan (D) in the Democratic primary for district attorney of Philadelphia on May 20, 2025.[1][2]
Before the election, WHYY Radio's Carmen Russell-Sluchansky wrote, "The contest pits two competing philosophies against each other: Krasner’s commitment to continuing to overhaul a historically punitive system and Dugan’s pledge to restore a sense of safety."[3] No Republican candidate filed to run in the general election.
The district attorney of Philadelphia is responsible for charging and prosecuting accused criminals. The office decides what offenses someone will be charged with and can also determine sentencing via plea deals.[4]
Krasner was first elected in 2017. Krasner campaigned on his record, and his website said, "During his first two terms, Larry has focused on the most serious crimes in Philadelphia while working to address the root causes of violence. The results: Murders are down more than 25% from his first year in office even as he has cut sentences in half."[5] He campaigned against President Donald Trump's (R) administration. At his campaign launch, Krasner said, "We are going to make sure that [Trump’s] little plan to take over America fails. This election is a whole lot bigger than Philadelphia."[6]
Dugan was a former judge on the Philadelphia Municipal Court. Dugan's campaign website said he would "[p]ersonally engage with communities, law enforcement, and victims to ensure justice is served, expand resources for diversionary programs, job training, and education, [and] always prioritize the safety and well-being of Philadelphia’s residents."[7] Dugan supported a plan to change the structure of the district attorney's office, and his website said he "will restructure the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office into six divisions, each focused on a specific region of the city. Every division will be led by a senior prosecutor responsible for justice in their area."[7]
Before the election City & State Pennsylvania's Harrison Cann wrote, "Each candidate will attempt to paint a different picture of the city, with Krasner likely to boast about declining homicide and violent crime rates, while Dugan could hone in on public sentiment that the city doesn’t feel safe."[8] Dugan was critical of Krasner's handling of retail crime, and said, "Wawas are closing. They're closing in Center City. 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 (Krasner's office) couldn't control the retail theft."[9] Krasner said the city saw a reduction in homicides during his tenure: "We had the largest percent reduction in homicides in Philadelphia’s history. ... We led the nation among big cities in terms of the improvements in public safety last year, and not for the first time. We have been on this track now. We’re in our fifth year of being on this track of homicides, going down and down and down."[10]
Philadelphia Republican Party chair Vince Fenerty said Dugan was "a fine gentleman and an excellent judge [who] would be honest, fair, and open-minded."[11] Additionally, reporters speculated on whether national Republican figures would get involved in opposition to Krasner. The Downballot's Jeff Nir and David Singer wrote that Elon Musk "pledged to dump in money to beat progressive prosecutors nationwide, and he's been happy to feed speculation that Krasner could be one of his super PAC's top targets. The two clashed just before the 2024 election when Krasner unsuccessfully sued to stop Musk from giving away $1 million a day to voters who signed a petition."[12]
In addition to the district attorney, Philadelphia voters also voted for other municipal offices in 2025. To learn more about those elections, click here.
For coverage of the general election, click here.
Candidates and election results
General election
General election for Philadelphia District Attorney
Incumbent Lawrence Krasner defeated Patrick F. Dugan in the general election for Philadelphia District Attorney on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Lawrence Krasner (D) | 79.2 | 95,200 |
 | Patrick F. Dugan (R) | 20.8 | 24,978 | |
| Total votes: 120,178 | |||
 = 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. | ||||
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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
The following dates come from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's election agency website[13]:
- February 18: First day to circulate and file nomination petitions
- March 11: Last day to circulate and file nomination petitions
- March 12: First day to circulate and file nomination papers
- March 18: Last day to file objections to nomination petitions
- March 26: Last day for withdrawal by candidates who filed nomination petitions
- May 5: Last day to register before the primary
- May 13: Last day to apply for a mail-in or civilian absentee ballot
- May 20: Last day for county election office to receive completed mail-in and civilian absentee ballots (must be received by 8:00 P.M.)
- May 20: Primary day (Polls open 7 A.M-8 P.M.)
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
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Philadelphia District Attorney in 2025.
Party: Democratic 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
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Philadelphia District Attorney in 2025.
Ballotpedia Candidate Connection
Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
No candidate in this race completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
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.
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.[14][15]
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 was a battleground election. Other 2025 battleground elections included:
- Mayoral election in Oakland, California (2025)
- Mayoral election in Omaha, Nebraska (2025)
- Mentor Exempted Village School District, Ohio, elections (2025)
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
- ↑ WHYY, "Philadelphia primary election 2025: What to know about Democratic DA candidates Larry Krasner and Pat Dugan," March 17, 2025
- ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, "The Philadelphia district attorney’s job, explained," May 5, 2021
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Patrick Dugan 2025 campaign website, "PLAN FOR JUSTICE," accessed April 1, 2025
- ↑ City & State Pennsylvania, "Philly DA primary: what to know about Larry Krasner vs. Patrick Dugan," January 24, 2025
- ↑ Philly Voice, "Krasner seeks third term as Philly DA, touting drop in homicides while challenger notes rise in other crimes," February 18, 2025
- ↑ Philadelphia 17, "Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner announces bid for reelection," February 18, 2025
- ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, "No Republican is running for Philadelphia DA this year, party leaders say," March 5, 2025
- ↑ The Downballot, "Morning Digest: Top reformist prosecutor draws challenger seeking to roll back changes,"January 15, 2025
- ↑ Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, "Upcoming Elections," accessed April 1, 2025
- ↑ City of Philadelphia, "Government Organization," accessed October 29, 2014
- ↑ Philadelphia City Charter, 1.101-102, accessed October 29, 2014
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