Philly DA Larry Krasner tries to harness Democratic rage toward Trump as he launches his third bid for office

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced Tuesday that he is running for reelection and will face off for the Democratic nomination against Patrick Dugan, a former local judge.

But Krasner did not refer to Dugan once. He spent much more oxygen on President Donald Trump.

Standing in the city’s center for community-access media and flanked by a dozen elected officials, Krasner, one of the nation’s best-known progressive prosecutors, framed himself as a local foil to the Republican president and maintained his posture as a rebellious political outsider, despite being a two-term incumbent.

He said the country’s movement for criminal justice reform that first lifted him to office eight years ago “is evolving into a movement to save democracy.”

“We are going to make sure that [Trump’s] little plan to take over America fails,” Krasner said. “This election is a whole lot bigger than Philadelphia.”

Krasner did not offer specifics about how he would use the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office to push back against the Trump administration, and he did not take questions from reporters.

The campaign for district attorney pitting Krasner against Dugan, a more moderate Democratic challenger, is the first local race since Trump took office in January and one of the marquee electoral contests in Pennsylvania this year. Ahead of the May primary, Krasner is touting that the city has seen a historic drop in gun violence and is vowing to expand his focus on the root causes of crime, such as poverty and addiction.

At the same time, he is trying to nationalize the local campaign by positioning himself as Philadelphia’s chief Trump critic.

Krasner spent much of his 30-minute campaign launch event Tuesday jabbing at the president and his billionaire senior adviser, Elon Musk, albeit not by name. The district attorney referenced the “lawless president,” whom he said has aligned with “fascist-adjacent people on the right” and “apartheid-raised friends.” Musk was born and raised in South Africa.

It is familiar territory for Krasner, who has long been a vocal Trump opponent and has described the president and his movement in extreme terms. Krasner recently called the administration’s planned crackdown on illegal immigration “Nazi stuff.” He unsuccessfully sued Musk last year ahead of the November election, saying the billionaire’s giveaways to Pennsylvania voters constituted an illegal lottery.

And Krasner made national news last year for issuing a stern warning in the lead-up to the election that was widely seen as directed toward Trump’s supporters, saying to those who wanted to engage in election intimidation: “F around and find out.” He has since put that slogan on campaign T-shirts.

Trump’s side has branded Krasner and other progressive prosecutors as dangerous. Trump has bashed Krasner as soft on crime, saying he is “the worst district attorney.” And Musk has said he may use his fortune to target progressive prosecutors — like Krasner — who have been supported in the past by liberal megadonor George Soros. It is not yet clear whether either billionaire will get involved in this year’s race.

While the district attorney focuses much of his messaging on the national political landscape, Dugan has taken a different tone.

In announcing his campaign last month, the former Municipal Court judge emphasized what he says would be a hyperlocal approach to crime, saying he would assign prosecutors to individual neighborhoods and recruit attorneys with ties to the region. Dugan has leaned into his Philadelphia bona fides, noting his affiliations in community groups and going so far as to say on his campaign website that he “hates the Dallas Cowboys.”

» READ MORE: How Patrick Dugan raised more money than Larry Krasner last year and what it means for the 2025 Philly DA’s race

In a statement Tuesday, Dugan said that while the city’s homicide rate is down, “people have not felt safe across our city for a very long time.” He cited police statistics showing that some other offenses are up year-to-date, including robbery, aggravated assault with a gun, and retail theft.

Since announcing his campaign last month and framing himself as a more pragmatic alternative to Krasner, Dugan has won backing from some of the city’s most politically influential labor unions, including the Philadelphia Building Trades and Construction Council, which represents 30 unions. The group, led by business manager Ryan N. Boyer, played a critical role in Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s 2023 run for office.

Boyer said last month that the building trades had “unanimously” endorsed Dugan.

But on Tuesday, Krasner was joined by Samuel Staten Jr., the business manager of Laborers’ Local 332 — Boyer’s union. Staten said his local will back Krasner and will “slam anybody who gets in the way.”

Boyer said Local 332 is the only union in the building trades that is backing Krasner and said it simply reflects personal relationships and “a difference of opinion.”

“People have different philosophies,” Boyer said. “We don’t run a dictatorship.”

Krasner was also joined by a handful of elected officials, including City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, in a show that he has support among some of the city’s Democratic power brokers.

That is typically a given for top Democrats seeking reelection. But the city party this year declined to endorse Krasner for reelection for a second time, despite usually backing incumbents. The party’s leaders chose instead to have an open primary, meaning the individual heads of each of the city’s 66 political wards will decide if they want to endorse a candidate.

Krasner said at the time that the decision was “one more sign that the rusty parts of the political machine are unwilling to be replaced by shiny ones.”