The current Philadelphia District Attorney officially launched his campaign for a third term, looking to continue as a staunch critic of the new Trump administration.
Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner is seeking a third term, according to Krasner and people close to his campaign. The Democrat officially launched the re-election bid on Tuesday in a press briefing, while surrounded by staff and officials. Krasner highlighted mental health treatment, theft, homelessness and chronic violence as the key issues his team would tackle in a would-be third term. He also used the speech to call out President Trump directly, whom he has feuded with openly about immigration, deportation and other key issues.
“Eight years ago, I stood up here talking about our ideas and visions,” Krasner said. “And what we said at the time is that justice makes us safer. Doing justice has made us safer, but there’s another side to it as well, it has also made us freer.” Krasner began his speech by posing the question of “how safe are we?” to the audience of reporters and allies, and cited statistics that show homicide at a 15-year low in Philadelphia. Krasner has been criticized by opponents as being too soft on crime, and a frequent target for his focus on social justice and hostility to Donald Trump. Krasner said DA now stands for “democracy advocate”.
Krasner also touched on his plan for recruiting more voters for the Democratic party, and said the 2026 midterms would be a key focus of his administration. Krasner vowed it would be the “start of something big” for the Democrat party, following an election year that saw his party lose the Presidency and Senate, while failing to retake the House. Pennsylvania also flipped towards Republicans and Donald Trump after President Biden won the state in 2020.
“What we can do with this election is register an unheard-of number of new voters,” Krasner said. “What we can do with this election is scare some of the folks in Washington DC half to death when they see the turnout and the votes in this election bigger than they have ever seen.” Krasner has previously been critical of “fearmongering” from Republicans and President Trump, and said he would not cooperate with the “scare tactics” of the Deputy Attorney General’s bid for all local officials to work with the administration on immigration reform and deportations. “Haters lose,” Krasner said. “They’re going to lose and they’re going to lose big.”
Krasner won his previous re-election bid in 2021 against Republican challenger Chuck Peruto with over 70% of the vote. He also scored a primary victory against Democratic challenger Carlos Vega, against whom he took 67% of the vote. Despite Krasner’s previous election victories, he has faced mounting scrutiny recently, and some close to the Philadelphia Democrat believe a third term may be more difficult than a second. As of now, Krasner has one known Democratic primary opponent, former Philadelphia Judge Patrick Dugan, who officially launched his campaign last month.
