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The Philly DA race is Krasner vs. Dugan, again. With a week to go, only one seems to be campaigning.

Patrick Dugan is doing what he can to try to make it a race, including slamming Larry Krasner on national TV over the killing of Kada Scott.

District Attorney Larry Krasner (right) arrives outside SOUTH Restaurant & Jazz Club Tuesday, May 20, 2025, as his challenger, Judge Patrick Dugan (left) is interviewed at the primary election day lunch and political gathering. The two candidates for DA did not interact.
District Attorney Larry Krasner (right) arrives outside SOUTH Restaurant & Jazz Club Tuesday, May 20, 2025, as his challenger, Judge Patrick Dugan (left) is interviewed at the primary election day lunch and political gathering. The two candidates for DA did not interact.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

Ignoring the Republican opponent is a time-honored strategy for Philadelphia Democrats, one that has become as reliable a fall tradition as Eagles tailgates and Mischief Night.

So it’s of little surprise that incumbent Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is barely campaigning with just a week until Election Day. He’s expecting to cruise to his third term in office over his Republican challenger, former Municipal Court Judge Patrick Dugan, who is taking on Krasner for the second time this year.

There have been no public events featuring both candidates in the lead-up to the general election, and no television advertising. Krasner is not engaging with Dugan’s attempts to debate.

And campaign finance reports filed late last week show Krasner raised just $12,000 over the course of the last month — a tiny amount compared with the $213,000 he collected in the final stretch of the primary campaign. National groups that have in the past poured money into pro-Krasner advertising in the city aren’t doing so now.

Krasner is still the odds-on favorite to win. Democrats outnumber Republicans 6-1 in Philadelphia, and it has been 35 years since the city had a Republican district attorney.

Then there’s the fact that Krasner has twice before defeated his Republican opponents in landslide fashion after similarly refusing to debate them. And he already beat Dugan handily once — Dugan ran as a Democrat in the spring primary, then landed the Republican nomination following a write-in campaign organized by the city’s GOP.

It all adds up to a sleeper of a race and a sense of inevitability for Krasner, the brash and controversial former civil rights attorney who has openly clashed with members of both major parties, but whose opposition has yet to successfully sweep him from office.

Dugan said Monday that Krasner’s refusal to engage is a way to “run away from his record.”

“Any time anybody pushes him on his record, he pivots and avoids it,” Dugan said. “He refuses to debate or engage about specific policies that he’s done and things I’m calling failed policies.”

Krasner declined to comment on his campaign strategy, but said he encourages all Philadelphians “to get out and vote, and vote their conscience.”

“It’s important that every candidate for office and every elected official is responsive to the source of their power, and that power is [political] outsiders, it is voters, it is individuals,” Krasner said. “It is not the institutions, or famous or wealthy people. It’s the voters.”

Dugan is doing what he can to try to make it a race. But he does not have the financial resources to mount a sizable opposition campaign. He amassed a six-figure war chest in the spring with the help of the politically powerful building trades unions, but he spent much of it on advertising in the primary.

» READ MORE: Philly’s building trades unions have turned against Pat Dugan as he runs against DA Larry Krasner as a Republican

According to recently filed fundraising reports, Dugan brought in about $40,000 over the last month. That’s more than Krasner and included small donations from a few unions, but it’s likely not enough to fund a robust advertising campaign. So far this fall, neither candidate has run ads on television.

Thus far, Dugan has spent the money he does have on social media and lawn signs, according to his spending reports.

And he is trying to get on TV other ways: appearing as a guest on national cable news programs and criticizing Krasner. Dugan appeared on both Fox News and NewsNation last week, where he was particularly focused on the killing of 23-year-old Mount Airy resident Kada Scott.

» READ MORE: Killing of Kada Scott prompts hearing on Philly’s handling of domestic violence cases

In the interviews, Dugan slammed Krasner for his office’s handling of previous cases against Keon King, the man accused of kidnapping and killing Scott earlier this month. King had previously been arrested for allegedly kidnapping and assaulting his ex-girlfriend, but prosecutors withdrew the cases after the victim and witnesses did not come to court.

Krasner has admitted that dropping charges against King in one of the cases was a mistake because there was video evidence that could have allowed for prosecution to proceed.

On Fox News, Dugan called Krasner a “coconspirator,” and he accused the district attorney of failing to properly train his attorneys, adding that he is “trying to create chaos.”

“I saw this from the bench,” Dugan added Monday. “I saw the DA’s office being inept and not being able to handle a basic case. … Unfortunately, Kada Scott is one of those who lost their life due to the ineffectiveness of the DA’s office’s policies.”

Krasner declined to respond.

In a statement Monday, Scott’s parents said they are “deeply grateful for the cooperation, transparency, and commitment demonstrated by” Krasner and his office.