Democrats are responding with fury and Republicans with delight to Pat Dugan’s announcement that he’ll switch parties and run as a Republican in the November election for District Attorney.
Dugan, a retired municipal judge, lost the May Democratic primary to incumbent Larry Krasner by a 29-point margin, or almost 44,000 votes.
There was no Republican candidate, but the city GOP mobilized to encourage its members to write Dugan in on their primary ballots. He received more than 6,100 votes, well above the 1,000 needed to make him the Republican nominee.
Dugan’s campaign had previously pledged he would not run as a Republican, but after the primary he noticeably refrained from dropping out of the race. On Saturday, he announced he was abandoning his promise to stick with the Democratic party.
“I cannot stand by and allow Mr. Krasner’s failed policies to continue to hold our city hostage,” he said. “Every Philadelphian has a real choice this fall, and I believe they will stand with me for common sense and safety.”
Democrats were quick to call Dugan a liar for his earlier pledges not to switch parties, echoing language that Krasner has often used during the campaign.
“Pat Dugan promised me, and our party, that he would not run as a Republican in this fall’s election. That was clearly a lie,” Philadelphia Democratic Party chair Bob Brady wrote in an email to ward leaders.
“Pat Dugan’s decision to run as a Republican is disgraceful. His acceptance of the Republican nomination is a betrayal to the Democratic Party and the people of Philadelphia. His ego has allowed him to be used as a pawn by the Republican Party, an attempt to divide our strong and growing Democratic Party. Pat Dugan is, in every sense of the word, a sore loser,” Brady wrote.
Meanwhile, Republican party stalwarts who despise Krasner said they were pleased to see he will face a GOP challenger this fall.
“Firing Larry Krasner has always been a top priority for me and for Northeast Philadelphia. Pat Dugan is a proven leader who will put victims before politics, enforce the law fairly, and make our streets safe again,” state Sen. Joe Picozzi said.
“Philadelphians will finally have a real choice between someone committed to protecting our citizens and our city versus Larry Krasner, who is a proven advocate for the very criminals he is supposed to prosecute,” Philly GOP chair Vince Fenerty said.
Dugan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Krasner declined to comment.
A big hole to fill
Dugan will have to do substantially better than he did in the primary to achieve an upset win.
For example, if both he and Krasner get all the same votes (Democratic and Republican) they received in May, Dugan would then need roughly another 38,000 to come out on top.
Higher turnout could result in more votes for either or both candidates, but it’s unclear if more people will go to the polls in November. Only 16.6% of eligible voters cast primary ballots this year.
In the last DA contest in 2021, turnout inched up only slightly between the two elections, from a little over 21% to not quite 22%, a difference of some 5,400 voters. The election four years ago included a contested state Supreme Court race, which drove voter interest and get-out-the-vote efforts. There’s no such contest this year.
In addition, Dugan is likely to lose many of his Democratic votes, creating an even bigger hole for him to backfill.
He could also lose endorsements he received from elected officials like Councilman Mike Driscoll and state Sen. Tina Tartaglione, and from influential Democratic-aligned labor organizations such as the Philadelphia Building Trades Council, the IBEW 98 electrical workers union, and unions representing SEPTA employees and firefighters.
While Brady and other Democratic party officials have often been at odds with the outspokenly progressive Krasner — they made no DA endorsement this year or in 2021, breaking from a tradition of supporting Democratic incumbents — the party leader signaled that doesn’t matter any more, given that Dugan is defecting to the other side.
“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,” Brady wrote. “As chairman of this Democratic Party, it is my responsibility and duty under our party rules to hold my fellow ward leaders to the same.”
“Democratic nominees here in the city of Philadelphia have the benefit of the full system of resources our party infrastructure brings. As a party, we will stand together, reject dishonesty, and deliver victory in November to our DEMOCRATS,” he said.
At the same time, while Republicans are widely outnumbered on the city’s voter registration rolls, the city party appears poised to put some resources behind Dugan’s campaign, in an effort to oust Krasner.
Fenerty noted that in Pittsburgh and Baltimore, progressive prosecutor candidates have lost to centrists in recent years. In particular, after Allegheny County DA Stephen Zappala lost his primary two years ago, he switched to the Republican party and won reelection.
“Philadelphia can and will do the same this November by supporting the commonsense, bipartisan approach to public safety and justice that Judge Dugan will bring to the table as District Attorney,” Fenerty said.
The Allegheny County race differed from Philly’s in a number of ways, however. Unlike Dugan, Zappala was a well-known incumbent, having already held the position for more than two decades. He also lost the primary by a narrower margin, 11 points, before coming back and winning the general election.
