DA Larry Krasner has a fundraising advantage among Philly residents. Challenger Patrick Dugan is dominating the suburbs.

In his campaign to secure a third term, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has a slight advantage over his opponent in fundraising from donors who live in the city — and a big advantage when it comes to national fundraising, according to campaign finance filings released last week.

His challenger, former Municipal Court Judge Patrick Dugan, meanwhile, has cleaned up with donors who live in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey suburbs, helping to fuel his nearly 2-1 fundraising advantage over the incumbent as he seeks to unseat Krasner in the May 20 Democratic primary.

The Inquirer analyzed campaign finance data from November 2024 to May 5, the close of the most recent reporting period, and found notable differences in where the candidates have turned to for their financial support.

Krasner, a former criminal defense attorney and luminary of the progressive prosecutor movement, is taking advantage of his national profile. And Dugan, a veteran seen as a tough-on-crime alternative, has strong support in the Philadelphia collar counties, where voters tend to be more moderate.

Among Philly donors, Krasner raised the most money from a zip code in liberal Northwest Philadelphia, while Dugan’s strongest neighborhood support was in the more conservative Northeast.

Meanwhile, outside money — spending by super PACs, or political action committees that are prohibited from coordinating with the candidates — is playing a bigger role as the primary draws nearer.

No Republican has filed to run, so the winner of next week’s election is likely to come out on top in November.

Here’s what you need to know about the money race in this year’s district attorney election.

In the last reporting period, Krasner’s campaign raised slightly more money than Dugan’s, but the former judge has held a sizable financial advantage over the course of the campaign.

Krasner collected about $213,000 from April 1 to May 5, and his campaign spent $203,000. Dugan took in about $211,000 during that time, and spent $519,000.

Thanks to major fundraising hauls for Dugan earlier in the race — primarily fueled by big contributions from the building trades unions — his campaign has raised a total of about $819,000 during the campaign, compared with Krasner’s roughly $483,000.

» READ MORE: Unions are fueling Patrick Dugan’s campaign for Philly DA as he far out-raises incumbent Larry Krasner

Dugan’s campaign manager, Daniel Kalai, said the former judge is “very proud” of winning the money race with “overwhelming union support and individual donors who believe in his vision of public safety.”

“He has outraised Larry Krasner nearly 2-1 which includes hundreds of small dollar donors aggregated from several $35 beef and beer events in Philadelphia neighborhoods held since January,” Kalai said in a statement.

The candidates entered the two-week home stretch with roughly comparable amounts in cash on hand: Dugan had about $120,000 in the bank as of May 5, while Krasner had about $175,000.

Despite his fundraising disadvantage, Krasner, who has at times played a major role in the national debate over crime and progressive politics, is seen by many as the favorite to win the primary due to his superior name recognition. Dugan has spent much of his money on biographical ads introducing himself to voters.

Krasner’s national profile has helped him pull in just over $164,000 in individual contributions from donors outside Pennsylvania, accounting for 39% of the total money he has raised.

Donors from outside Pennsylvania make up 18% of Dugan’s fundraising.

Dugan, meanwhile, has held a huge advantage over Krasner in the Philadelphia suburbs, with 40% of his donors and 45% of the money he has raised coming from the four Pennsylvania and three New Jersey counties surrounding the city.

Kalai said the former judge “appreciates that he has more donors from Pennsylvania that are invested in wanting a safer Philadelphia for their family and friends.”

That means both candidates are drawing heavily from the pockets of individuals who are ineligible to vote in the election. About 45% of donors and 52% of the money both candidates have raised have come from outside Philly.

In the city, Krasner has done slightly better with fundraising. About 58% of his individual donors live in Philadelphia, and they contributed $223,667, about 53% of the money he has collected.

“We’re proud to run a campaign that relies on diverse communities of Philadelphians contributing small sums to power our message to every neighborhood in our city,” Krasner spokesperson Anthony Campisi said in a statement. “Unlike our opponent who has cozied up to millionaire developers and is being supported by the Republican Party, we’re the only real Democrats in this race, as our support from working families testifies.”

(Philly GOP leaders have encouraged a write-in campaign that could allow Dugan to run as a Republican in November if he loses to Krasner next week. Dugan, a Democrat, has committed to declining the GOP nomination.)

About half of the individual donors Dugan’s campaign listed in his most recent campaign finance reports are Philadelphians, accounting for $174,048, or about 42% of the money he has raised.

Dugan has also raised large amounts from Philly-area labor unions that collect money from their members, including some city residents.

The Inquirer’s analysis looked only at individual donors and excluded money from PACs as well as contributions less than $50, which are not required to be itemized on campaign finance reports. Donors who contributed less than $50 are not included in the analysis.

In Philadelphia, Krasner had the most fundraising success among donors who live in zip codes in Mount Airy, parts of Center City, and Fairmount.

Krasner’s largest single-neighborhood haul of $49,426 came from 85 donors in Mount Airy-based zip code 19119, a historically liberal enclave where local elected officials have endorsed his reelection bid.

Dugan’s Philadelphia donors were highly concentrated in the more conservative Far Northeast, where he raised a combined $6,401 from a total of 26 donors in his top two zip codes there. He raised the most money in any zip code from Center City’s 19102 neighborhood: $31,200 from 16 donors.

The money candidates’ campaigns raise and spend tells only part of the financial story. Super PACs — outside spending groups that are not subject to the city’s limits on the size of donations but cannot coordinate with candidates — also play a major role in campaigns.

So far, the most prominent super PAC in the race has been Concerned Citizens of Philadelphia, an anti-Krasner group that has run TV ads attempting to cast the incumbent as soft on crime. The group had raised $385,000 as of May 5, largely from the building trades and real estate interests.

» READ MORE: Building trades unions and real estate interests are fueling the PAC working to defeat DA Larry Krasner

But an outside spending group backing Krasner is also beginning to get in the mix. The progressive Working Families Party’s national PAC reported spending $80,000 on get-out-the-vote efforts for Krasner, and about $5,000 on video production.

“We strongly support the progress [Krasner’s] made in his first two terms to invest in stopping the root causes of crime, exonerate wrongful convictions, and end mass incarceration,” Ari Kamen, the WFP’s Mid-Atlantic regional director, said in a statement.

So far, no outside spending group has run TV advertisements attacking Dugan or promoting Krasner.