Philly DA Larry Krasner calls on city committee chair Bob Brady to resign: ‘There needs to be some new leadership’

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, a progressive who has long feuded with the city’s Democratic Party leaders, on Thursday called on longtime party chair Bob Brady to resign, saying: “There needs to be some new leadership that will embrace the future, not reject it.”

In a selfie-style social media video filmed outside the Democratic City Committee offices, Krasner, 65, the third-term district attorney, said the party “has spent more time fighting against progressives, fighting against its future, than they have spent fighting against Republicans, fighting against fascists, fighting against Donald Trump.”

Krasner’s call for Brady to step aside comes days after State Rep. Chris Rabb, a democratic socialist, won the party’s nomination to represent the 3rd Congressional District. Rabb won handily over two more centrist Democrats backed by the party establishment, including State Sen. Sharif Street, who was endorsed by the city committee.

» READ MORE: Chris Rabb’s election marked a big night for Philly progressives — and a rebuke of the Democratic establishment

Brady, 81, a former U.S. representative, on Thursday declined to comment on Krasner’s video.

He has led the party since 1986 and said he intends to seek another four-year term. The leaders who represent the city’s 66 geographically based wards will vote to select a chair next month.

Krasner’s post is the latest dustup in a long history of tension between him and Brady. The party has never endorsed Krasner in a primary, despite typically backing incumbents. Last year, when the party declined to make an endorsement in Krasner’s reelection race, the district attorney said it was “just one more sign that the rusty parts of the political machine are unwilling to be replaced by shiny ones.”

And it was the second time this week that Krasner publicly clashed with another powerful Democrat. On Tuesday, he was kicked out of an election day lunch for elected officials that was hosted by labor leader Ryan Boyer after the pair got into an argument about campaign contributions.

» READ MORE: Chris Rabb’s path to victory in the U.S. House race ran through Northwest Philly and the progressive left

Brady and his allies have at times clashed with the city’s progressive faction. The party has, for example, taken aim at committeepeople and Democratic elected officials who endorsed members of the Working Families Party for seats on City Council.

And in 2024, after former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris lost Pennsylvania and the presidency, Brady faced a wave of calls for his resignation, largely from those on the political left, after Republicans improved their margins in deep-blue Philadelphia.

» READ MORE: Bob Brady’s feud with the Harris campaign reignited long-held criticisms of the city party. But he says he’s not going anywhere.

But on Wednesday, after Rabb — who has on multiple occasions challenged and defeated party-backed candidates — won the congressional race decisively, Brady struck a conciliatory tone.

He said in an interview that he supports Rabb as the Democratic nominee and that the left is “not the opposition.”

“The opposition is Republicans,” Brady said, “and we need them to beat Republicans.”

» READ MORE: Chris Rabb’s path to victory in the U.S. House race ran through Northwest Philly and the progressive left

Rabb — who was a longtime Democratic committeeperson and also formerly served as a ward leader — said Thursday that Brady is “not the underlying issue,” but is a symptom of how political machines function.

He said that the party must be overhauled to ensure transparency and integrity, and that it must commit to more “meaningful outreach.”

“If the one job you have is turning out the Democratic vote and that’s the thing you do poorest — and the party’s done worse and worse,” Rabb said, “then it has to look at how it operates, both strategically and systemically.”