DA candidate Pat Dugan has committed to declining the GOP nomination if he loses the Democratic primary

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect an update from Dugan’s campaign clarifying his intentions should he lose the Democratic primary and win the GOP primary.

Democratic district attorney candidate Patrick Dugan has committed to not running as a Republican in the general election in the event that he loses the Democratic primary, Dugan campaign manager Dan Kalai said Thursday.

No Republican filed to run in this year’s district attorney’s race, and the Philadelphia Republican City Committee on Monday launched a campaign to encourage GOP primary voters to write in Dugan’s name. If 1,000 Republicans vote for Dugan, he would have the option of accepting the GOP nomination and running in November if he loses to incumbent Larry Krasner in the May 20 Democratic primary.

At recent events and in statements from his campaign, Dugan this week said he was a “lifelong Democrat” committed to winning his party’s nomination. But he was evasive when pressed on whether he would accept the GOP nomination if he loses the Democratic primary.

At an event in Port Richmond last week, for instance, he responded to a question about being the GOP nominee by saying, “I am running in a Democratic primary. The rest of the stuff, I have no idea what‘s going on out there.”

And in a candidates debate on WURD Radio on Thursday, Dugan said he “was not running as a Republican” — a phrasing that did not preclude him from running as one in the future.

But on Thursday evening, The Inquirer requested that the Dugan campaign clarify the matter, asking, “Will Dugan commit to not accepting the GOP nomination if he loses the Democratic primary?”

Kalai responded, “Yes,” and confirmed the response in a follow-up interview.

Vince Fenerty, who chairs the Republican City Committee, said Thursday evening that he was not aware that Dugan had committed to declining the GOP nomination, but planned to continue the party’s write-in campaign regardless.

“We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing and hope that everything turns out and see what he ends up deciding afterwards,” Fenerty said.

» READ MORE: Larry Krasner and Patrick Dugan to debate Thursday on WURD as Philly DA race enters home stretch

The write-in campaign, which was first reported by the Northeast Times, involves Republican ward leaders and committeepeople reaching out to primary voters with instructions on how to write in Dugan’s name. The party has launched the website WriteInDugan.com to spread the word.

“There would be a chance that Judge Dugan could come back in November and defeat Larry Krasner,” Fenerty said. ”We believe that Judge Dugan would do a better job as district attorney than Larry Krasner."

Many Philly political observers believe Dugan faces an uphill battle in the Democratic primary. Republicans are hoping Dugan could prevail in the general election if he could combine the city’s GOP electorate and independents with his Democratic base.

But in a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 6-1, the odds of any GOP nominee coming out on top in November would remain a long shot.

“Judge Dugan has every intention of running in the General election, as the Democratic nominee,” Kalai said in a statement. “He has never had any interest in running as a Republican, nor has he discussed it.”

The GOP plan, Fenerty said, is based on Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala’s 2023 reelection campaign, in which the moderate Democratic incumbent lost his primary to a more progressive challenger — coincidentally named Matt Dugan, no relation — before winning the general election while running as the GOP nominee.

Patrick Dugan is a military veteran seen as a tough-on-crime alternative to Krasner, a former defense lawyer who has made national headlines as a leader of the progressive prosecutor movement since his shocking victory in the 2017 district attorney‘s race.

Dugan is running with the backing of the deep-pocketed building trades unions and has raised more money than Krasner, according to the most recent campaign finance reports. But Krasner, who is vying for a third term in office, enjoys superior name recognition, a major advantage in an off-year election cycle that typically sees low voter turnout.

“I wish Pat well in the Democratic primary. I hope he wins,” said J. Matthew Wolfe, a GOP ward leader. “If he doesn’t win and we can get 1,000 signatures, then he’ll have the opportunity to carry the campaign on another few months, which might be valuable in getting his name recognition up.”

Fenerty said the city’s Republican Party “kept this very much under wraps until two days ago,” when mail ballots were sent out to voters. The Philly GOP is running the write-in effort as an independent expenditure campaign, which means that it is prohibited from coordinating with candidates, Fenerty said.

Fenerty said he knows Dugan but he emphasized that the GOP is not working with him.

“I’m sure he knows what‘s going on, and because he knows we are doing this, if you have looked at any of the fliers, we’re doing that as an I.E. of Republican City Committee, which is not being coordinated with his campaign staff,” Fenerty said.

Kalai also said the GOP effort is unrelated to Dugan’s campaign.

“There has been no collaboration,“ Kalai said. ”The Republicans failing to run a candidate has nothing to do with our campaign.”

» READ MORE: No Republican is running for Philadelphia DA this year, party leaders say

A Krasner campaign spokesperson said the fact that Republicans approve of Dugan shows he isn’t the right choice for Philly Democrats.

“We’re known by the company we keep, and it says a lot that MAGA Republicans are pushing so hard to get Pat Dugan elected,” Krasner spokesperson Anthony Campisi said. “Philadelphians want someone who will fight Donald Trump and his billionaire friends, not someone who will get in bed with them in their relentless pursuit of power.”

At the Port Richmond event last week, Kalai elaborated on Dugan’s response to the audience member who asked about the former judge’s potential nomination by Republicans.

“We get this question a lot,” Kalai said, adding later that “the race is over after the primary.”

Krasner has sought to portray himself as stronger than Dugan when it comes to standing up to President Donald Trump, running ads vowing to stand up to “Trump and his billionaire buddies.” That line of attack for Krasner will likely be boosted by the news that Philly Republicans are working to nominate Dugan.

Without prompting, Kalai noted Trump’s role in the race in his response to the audience member at the Port Richmond event.

“What I will say is that [Dugan] taking a strong stance against Trump is — that‘s — Krasner has brought this into the race," Kalai said. “So there’s not much Krasner can do against Trump that Judge Dugan can’t do. That‘s a fact. So to answer your question, if I were you, if you’re a Republican, reach out to the Republican City Committee. Talk to them. That should answer your questions about that.”