Pat Dugan Gets Endorsement For Philly DA
by Alex Lloyd Gross
Patrick Dugan was a judge in Philadelphia. He quite because he saw what he calls the horrible job current District Attorney Larry Krasner is doing. He quit because he wants to be the DA in Philly. Dugan ran in the Democratic primary and lost. The voter turnout was abysmal. “I did get 7000 write in votes from Republicans that could not vote, because they did not have a candidate”, Dugan said.
He was standing outside city hall to accept an endorsement from the Forward Party along with former city councilman and mayoral candidate David Oh.. This party endorses candidates from both sides of the aisle. “We do not go left or right, we go forward”, representatives from the party said before the endorsement. Dugan wants to put violent offenders behind bars. “Carjackings, robbery, murder, assaults, those are the crimes I am concerned with,” he said..
The weird fact of his campaign is that a few people who supported him in the spring don’t want to support him now. The reason? He is running as a republican. The policies he had in the spring are the same as now. They have not changed. “I am not playing politics”, Dugan said.
ALEX LLOYD GROSS Photo Delaware Valley News.com Judge Dugan points to the Criminal Justice Center, where he used to work as a judge.
Dugan said that Krasner’s policies are making the city unsafe. Just recently, Kada Scott went missing. The person of interest, Keon King was charged earlier with kidnapping and assault charges. His case was withdrawn and King was set free when on the first hearing, the victim did not show up. Krasner’s office refiled the charges just yesterday on King for those charges. King remains a person of interest in Scott’s disappearance.
“I want to be clear, I am not about locking everyone up. People on drugs need help. The person arrested for possession does not need to go to jail for their first offense. We’ll let them get an evaluation and go from there,” Dugan said. Addiction is hard and as a DA he knows people will relapse. “I want them to have a hammer over their head that they could go to jail if they don’t sober up. maybe a night or two in jail if the relapses continue”, Dugan said.. He will also sign off on in patient treatment should that be warranted.
He also has other diversionary programs in store for first time offenders and veterans..
It is not unheard of for a democrat to switch parties and win, it happened in Pittsburgh. Dugan wants a strong turnout. “Show up, vote, get off the couch”. Dugan is expected to carry the Northeast, South Philadelphia and Port Richmond. Everyone has to vote, a strong showing is only a positive thing for Dugan, he campaign said.
Alex Lloyd Gross Photo Delaware Valley News.com Judge Patrick Dugan makes his remarks after he get his endorsement.
Election Day is November 4, 2025.