The race for Pa. attorney general is all about Larry Krasner

Much of this year’s race for Pennsylvania attorney general has focused on one man: Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.

Krasner, a progressive DA who was first elected in 2017, has become a boogeyman to Republicans in Harrisburg, who blame him for Philadelphia’s high crime rates. His unapologetic demeanor and focus on criminal justice reform have also pushed away some fellow Democrats.

And candidates from both parties running for attorney general have a lot to say about him.

His name has come up in candidate forums, interviews, and campaign literature in the lead-up to the April 23 primary, as five Democrats and two Republicans seek a spot on the ballot in the November general election.

Although only one candidate — State Rep. Craig Williams (R., Delaware) — has made Krasner a key part of his campaign and stump speech, the Philly DA’s name is unavoidable in the statewide race.

The Pennsylvania attorney general is the top law enforcement officer in the state, responsible for offering resources to each of the state’s 67 district attorneys and completing criminal investigations.

Krasner’s lone-wolf approach has complicated the relationship between the state AG and Philadelphia’s top prosecutor.

He has isolated himself from other prosecutors across the state by leaving the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association — and he fought publicly with Gov. Josh Shapiro, a fellow Democrat, during Shapiro’s tenure as attorney general.

And although Republicans haven’t held the attorney general’s office under Krasner’s tenure, GOP lawmakers have sought to strip him of power, including by impeaching him and pushing for a law that Shapiro signed last year giving the state AG new powers to appoint a special prosecutor to prosecute crimes on SEPTA.

All of the Democratic candidates running for attorney general said they would work with Krasner, but they also criticized him. Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer has been the harshest critic and said he’s been shut out by Krasner when trying to partner with the city and other collar counties to fight crime.

“[Krasner] does not see himself as part of law enforcement,” Stollsteimer said during a meeting with The Inquirer’s Editorial Board this month. “It’s not whether the AG can collaborate with him, it’s whether he is willing to collaborate with them.”

State Rep. Jared Solomon (D., Philadelphia) said he’d consider infrequently used legal mechanisms to pull gun violence cases away from Krasner, including a special (and mostly untested) power that allows the attorney general to step in as protector over the state when necessary.

“If we could not work together to make our city and state safe, I would need to step in and make sure the residents of our city and state are safe by using every power that I think I could pursue,” Solomon told The Inquirer’s Editorial Board.

A spokesperson for Krasner said the district attorney has worked and will continue to work with the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office and pointed to the statewide gun violence task force focused on straw purchases and other gun crimes as an example of that collaboration.

Other Democrats in the race were less critical.

Bucks County Solicitor Joe Khan, who was the runner up to Krasner in the 2017 Democratic primary for Philadelphia district attorney, said you “won’t find a cross word from me” about Krasner, though he’d expect to disagree with him at times if elected AG. He noted that former Philly DA Seth Williams and former Attorney General Kathleen Kane frequently fought with each another, and that it didn’t accomplish anything for the city.

“They couldn’t get along,” Khan said. “Their feud didn’t do anything, and they both ended up in jail.”

Keir Bradford-Grey, a former chief public defender in Philadelphia, said she’s worked on the opposite side of the court from Krasner. She said she believes that Krasner markets himself poorly and has previously criticized him publicly.

“Just because you have a ‘progressive’ part in your title, doesn’t mean that you’re going to do all things that people need,” Bradford-Grey said in an interview with The Inquirer’s Editorial Board earlier this month. “The AG has a role to play with every district attorney in the commonwealth. This is not just Larry, this is every district attorney.”

The two Republican candidates — York County District Attorney Dave Sunday and State Rep. Craig Williams (R., Delaware) — had different visions for how they’d interact with Krasner.

“Philadelphia is under siege, and we’ve got a district attorney there who’s not prosecuting crime,” Williams said during a debate on ABC27 in March.

Sunday, who was endorsed by the Pennsylvania GOP, has not focused his campaign on Krasner as Williams has. But he said he’s understanding of Republicans’ criticism of him.

“I understand completely why the state reps and why all the stakeholders that exist wanted to find a way to remove Larry Krasner,” Sunday said in a GOP debate last month. “My position is that if he’s removed, we don’t know who will take his place. And what we need to do is work with the citizens in the city of Philadelphia and do everything we can to make sure that we elect a real prosecutor into that role.”

Dustin Slaughter, Krasner’s spokesperson, called the Republican candidates’ comments “more hot air.”

“It’s very tragic that these candidates are playing politics with the lives of Philadelphians when they could be advocating for tougher, commonsense gun laws that would actually save lives,” Slaughter added.

Several of the Democratic candidates said they’d appoint and use the SEPTA special prosecutor role, even if they did not agree with its creation. Both Republicans said they support the law and would appoint someone to fill the role.

Sunday said he’d quickly appoint someone to the special prosecutor position.

“Anything that we can do to make Philadelphians safer is something that I will absolutely do on Day One,” Sunday said.

Michelle Henry, the current attorney general, has not appointed a prosecutor to fill that position. Krasner, meanwhile, filed a lawsuit seeking to have the law that created the role declared unconstitutional.

Eugene DePasquale, a Democratic candidate from Allegheny County, said he’d use the special prosecutor position even though he does not support the law.

“I like Larry, I know Larry can be challenging and I’m not going to change his personality,” DePasquale told The Inquirer Editorial Board. “He has won two overwhelming elections as DA, and it’s my job to work with all DAs across Pennsylvania.”