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John Legend tweets endorsement for Larry Krasner for DA

The singer-songwriter tweeted that Krasner "knows schools and opportunity, not jails, are the answer to crime."

John Legend, the award-winning singer-songwriter and University of Pennsylvania graduate, has pumped a little celebrity into Tuesday's Democratic primary election for district attorney in Philadelphia.

"I'm endorsing Larry Krasner for Philly DA — he knows that schools and opportunity, not jails, are the answer to crime. #Krasner4DA," Legend tweeted at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Legend's endorsement came on the same day as an appearance on CBS This Morning where he talked about mass incarceration and how it affects community investment.

Legend, a 1999 Penn graduate who grew up in Springfield, Ohio, last month joined the advisory board for the school's Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, a think tank.

Krasner, a defense lawyer known for taking on civil rights cases on behalf of Black Lives Matter, Occupy Philly, and the protesters from the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, has already drawn the attention of billionaire George Soros, who has sunk $1.45 million into an independent political action committee, Philadelphia Justice & Public Safety, which is airing television and radio commercials and paying for people to canvas the city's neighborhoods in support of Krasner's candidacy.

Krasner is one of seven Democrats in the race.

District Attorney Seth Williams, a Democrat, dropped his bid for a third term in February and was indicted by a federal grand jury in March on charges of accepting bribes and stealing money from a fund meant for the care of his elderly mother. Federal prosecutors added more counts in this week.

Legend has won 10 Grammy awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe, and recently released a fifth album.