Inside the Republican Scheme to Defeat Larry Krasner

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (image from Krasner’s official Twitter account)

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Inside the Republican Scheme to Defeat Larry Krasner

The Pennsylvania primary is next Tuesday. Statistically speaking, you probably won’t vote in it. But you’re probably aware that Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is seeking his third term in office. (Philly civics reminder: There is no term limit for DA.) His challenger is former judge Pat Dugan. Barring Krasner’s head bursting open and having Satan himself sprout out of it between now and then, Dugan is probably going to lose. Republicans know this. But they see a path to eventual victory.

Another civics reminder: Pennsylvania has a closed primary. That means that when you go to the polls on Tuesday, you can only vote for a candidate from your party. Krasner and Dugan are both running as Democrats. The Philly Republicans couldn’t manage to find a candidate to run. So if you are a Republican, you cannot vote for Dugan on Tuesday, as much as you likely loathe Krasner.

But what you can do, it turns out, is cast a write-in vote for Dugan in the Republican primary. Republican leaders have realized this. And so they have concocted a plan. As Axios tells us, Republicans are bankrolling an effort to get Republicans to go to the polls on Tuesday and do just that: write in the name Pat Dugan.

Republicans would need to do this at least 1,000 times. If that happened, Dugan could run as a Republican against Krasner in the general election in November. But here’s a fun twist… A lot of people think that Dugan’s last name is spelled Duggan. To be honest, I have to check myself every time I’m typing it. And if voters misspell Dugan’s name, it’s possible that those misspelled write in votes could be challenged in court.

Keep in mind that you can vote for anyone you want in the general election, i.e. you don’t have to vote by party. So if this scheme works out and Dugan winds up on the ballot as a Republican in November, Democrats who have become disenchanted with Krasner — and Republicans, Independents, etc — could vote for Dugan.

Of course, the last Republican to win the DA seat was back when Roseanne, Cheers and Murphy Brown were topping the airwave charts (added trivia: we haven’t had a Republican mayor since the 1950s), so the question is can the fear and loathing of Larry Krasner, well, trump the anti-Republican sentiment in this overwhelmingly Democratic city? Probably only if Trump mega-donor Jeff Yass (aka the richest guy in Pennsylvania) decided to pour lots and lots of money into this race.

Now That’s a Provocative Headline…

From the Inquirer: “Why Are ICE Agents Such Cowardly Wusses?” I’m sure Will Bunch isn’t getting even a lil’ bit of hate mail for that one.

Reader Mail

Some pretty strong reactions to my story yesterday about MLB reinstating Pete Rose who had sex with a child. Among them:

“Gross! Why do I feel like sexual assaulter in chief had something to do with this?” [Ed. Note: He did.]

“This is disgusting.”

“Fucking ew.”

“He was as good as a baseball player as he was bad as a person.”

By the Numbers

25 mph: Speed limit on the sometimes harrowing Lincoln Drive. I’ve never seen anyone do less than 35 on it. And some people act like it’s a frigging grand prix. In the pursuit of safety, the city is installing not speed bumps nor speed humps nor speed tables but… something called speed slots. (But, really, who came up with “speed hump”? Very Michael Scott.)

7: Satellite campuses that Penn State wants to close. This would affect more than 500 staffers and thousands of students.

0: Steps closer we are to having recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania now that a state senate committee just vaporized a legalization bill. These folks need to smoke a fatty and chill the heck out.

Local Talent

Hooters drummer David Uosikkinen has been recording and performing songs by a wide range of fellow Philly artists (and songs with big Philly connections like David Bowie’s “Young Americans”) since 2010 via his popular In the Pocket project. On September 27th, Uosikkinen and lots of his talented musical friends will celebrate the 15th anniversary of In the Pocket with a concert at Ardmore Music Hall. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday via this link. But I have it on good authority that you can use the code ITP25 to unlock tickets right now, with a 10-percent discount to boot.