Krasner Has Been a Disaster for Philadelphians

Larry Krasner, who’s seeking his third term as Philadelphia district attorney, should not be reelected in what is tomorrow’s most important Democratic primary in Pennsylvania.

The primary is a referendum on his failed leadership since 2018. His challenger, local judge Patrick Dugan, seems ready for the job. But at its core, this race is about Krasner. Does he deserve another term or have Philadelphians had enough?

Serving as the two-term district attorney for Philadelphians – the supposed chief crime fighter – Krasner has been a failure. In truth, he wasn’t aiming for the crime fighting. Instead, he focused on advancing a progressive, upside-down-and-backwards vision of “justice.” He chased away career prosecutors; argued for cashless bail; gave thugs successive “second-chances”; and essentially legalized shoplifting – forcing stores to close and making law-abiding citizens feel both cheated and unsafe. They helplessly watch theft occur in front of their eyes at Home Depot, CVS, Target, and Acme.

Krasner hasn’t been the chief prosecutor. He’s been the chief crime-enabler.

The question is bigger than whether Democratic primary voters will defeat or renominate him. The big question is whether Democratic Party leaders will stand by him – and his failed, anti-neighborhood, anti-small business, anti-crime victim ways.

Is the city’s Democratic Party going to be led by the old-school, commonsense, “build-things” coalition of chair Bob Brady, Mayor Cherelle Parker, Building Trades President Ryan Boyer, and city council members Michael Driscoll and Quetcy Lozada? Or is it going to be led by the progressive ideologues – the “let’s try this whacky idea and see what happens” club of Krasner, Helen Gym, and the Working Families Party?

The Democratic Party is at a crossroads.

Intentionally or negligently, they have left urban America behind. They have taken them for granted – and stopped focusing on what matters to them. They have turned their backs not only on cops, but on working class families in ethnic, Catholic neighborhoods, in Hispanic and Asian communities and, most notably, African-American communities. “Defund the police” was the rhetoric of Narberth not Northeast Philadelphia. It’s a foolish ideology growing out of the church of progressivism, not Greater Exodus Baptist Church.

To be clear, it’s not a battle between conservative and liberal factions of Democrats. It’s a battle between liberals and looneys – between commonsense and nonsense, masquerading as thoughtfulness.

In the DA’s race, it comes down to this: Should “bad guys” go to jail or be allowed to harass storeowners, threaten senior citizens trying to shop and our kids walking home from school?

It’s a battle that has played out nationally. In recent years, Democrats have kicked-out progressive Krasner-like prosecutors (and soft-on-crime mayors) in Oakland, Los Angeles, and even San Francisco. Coalitions of political leaders, business leaders, and citizens groups united to end the “reigns of terror” of district attorneys preferring criminals over victims.

In multi-candidate primary races, the old-school, commonsense Democrats sometimes win – e.g., Parker, and former cop, Mayor Eric Adams, in New York City. But often in one-on-one races – like Krasner vs. Dugan – it takes intentional, focused, coordinated efforts to rid cities of the Krasners.

Krasner – like many progressives running for office – talks less about his record or resume and mostly about Trump, or Elon Musk. It’s what he cares about – and his rhetoric wins. When pushed to talk about reality, he cites “progress” in murder rates – that just reflect a national trend. Plus, the murder rate is still too high – it’s just less horrible than it was a few years ago.

And Krasner only cites that data in passing. It’s not what his focus or passion is. His focus is fighting with Trump and advancing a progressive agenda. But Philadelphians need safety, not ideology!

Philadelphia residents feel less safe. Chain stores continue to leave Center City and are abandoning neighborhoods, too. Hometown hero Wawa’s ongoing departures underscore the issue because the company is so dedicated to the region and our communities.

The vacant storefronts downtown – and in neighborhoods from South Philly to Market Street in West Philly – are painful symbols of failure. Suburban residents look for excuses not to work in Center City and their visits to the city often end before sundown.

Retail theft is now legalized and carjackings happen all too often.

Krasner has failed at his primary job. In fairness, he hasn’t tried to do it. Krasner was funded by a national movement – a tragic experiment – to elect progressive DA’s so that they could implement left-wing “justice.”

Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Francisco wised-up and replaced progressives with old school liberals. Our neighbors in Pittsburgh created a coalition of old-school Democrats, independents and Republicans to defeat a Krasner-like DA challenger.

With 767,000 registered Democrats, team “old-school” only needs to find about 140,000 Democrats who’ve had enough of Krasner – in a race where turnout will be less than 30%. Certainly, there are more than enough Democrats who want Krasner fired.

The question is: does the Parker/Brady/Boyer faction really want him gone, too? Will they fight for the people counting on them?

This article was originally published by RealClearPennsylvania and made available via RealClearWire.