Since his election in 2017, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has been recognized as one of this country’s boldest, and most effective, criminal justice reformers. But in the last year or so he has taken on a new role: as a prosecutor who is ready to push back against the extremist policies and threats of President Trump and his backers in the bluntest possible language. And with the boldest legal strategies—strategies so bold, in fact, that Krasner now says that his DA title—which, first and foremost refers to his work as a transformative district attorney who has made Philadelphia a safer and freer city—has come to have a new meaning in the second Trump term, “and that is Democracy Advocate.”

Where other Democrats struggle to figure out how to respond to Trump and Trumpism, Krasner hits the mark with a clarity that is as necessary as it is refreshing. More than that—it’s good politics. That was confirmed Tuesday, when Krasner overcame significant opposition, from more conservative Democrats and interloping Republicans, to win a landslide Democratic primary victory. The primary win virtually assures that Krasner will be reelected in November. It also confirms that, with politics increasingly nationalized by the so-called “Trump Effect,” Democrats running at the local level benefit from a focus on their opposition to the president’s policies—as Krasner did, when he promised to use his authority as one of the country’s highest-profile prosecutors to “slow down this maniacal behavior” of the White House.

As he stumped for a third term, Krasner declared that if he won ,“Then we are going to save our country. Then we are going to beat down the haters one more time—make sure these haters lose. Then we are going to stand up in the same way we stood up in the Civil War, that we stood up in World War II, we are going to stand up and we’re going to knock them down. That is going to be the future of organized labor, that is going to be the future of women, that’s going to be the future of LGBTQ people, that is going to be the future of making sure that every vote in Philadelphia is actually counted and not undermined.”

The reference to vote counting recalled an incident last fall, where Krasner illustrated exactly what a local prosecutor can do to defend democracy.

On the eve of the 2024 presidential election, when officials across the country were concerned about threats to disrupt voting in heavily Democratic cities such as Philadelphia, Krasner announced that he was activating his office’s Election Task Force. At a press conference, he said of provocateurs who might try to mess with the casting or counting of ballots, “Anybody who thinks they are going to play those games in Philadelphia… if you’re going to do it in bad faith, there is an election court, there are judges, they have orders and, those orders are going to say, in essence, ‘get out of the polling places.’ Anybody who doesn’t get out, you’re going to be arrested.”

Current Issue

June 2025 Issue

What Krasner said next, to drive home his point, caught the attention not just of Philadelphia but the entire country.

“Anybody who thinks it’s time to play militia, F around and find out. Anybody who thinks it’s time to insult, to deride, to mistreat, to threaten people, F around and find out,” the DA declared. “We do have the cuffs, we do have the jail cells, we do have the Philly juries and we have the state prisons. So, if you’re going to turn the election into some form of coercion, if you’re going to try to bully people, bully votes or voters, if you’re going to try to erase votes, if you’re going to try any of that nonsense, F around and find out.”

Trump kept peddling false claims about voting in Philadelphia, while he and his allies slapped back at Krasner, and some Democrats fretted that the DA was picking fights he might regret. Krasner’s critics recruited a high-profile Democratic primary challenger: former municipal judge Pat Dugan ,who drew strong support from big-money interests—“rich friends from far away,” as Krasner likes to say—and who Philadelphia Republican Party chair Vince Fenerty hailed as “a fine gentleman and an excellent judge.” (Republicans even launched a write-in campaign to give the GOP nomination to Dugan.)

Krasner did not blink. He ran on his record as a successful reformer—highlighting dramatic declines in murders and violent crime and data confirming his assertion, “We led the nation among big cities in terms of the improvements in public safety last year.” And he ran against Trump.

Krasner’s last campaign ad declared ,

For seven years, I’ve stood up for Philadelphia: worked to lower crime, focused on violence prevention, gotten justice for victims and the accused, made the system fair, exonerated almost 50 people [who were] wrongfully convicted, protected democracy. Some people don’t like that: Trump and his billionaire buddies, the shooting groups, the gun lobby, the old system that denied people justice for too long. They can come for Philly, but I’m not backing down. They can F around and find out.

That was enough for the voters. Krasner walloped Dugan, 64 percent to 36 percent. He carried neighborhoods across the multiracial, multiethnic city and, in a victory speech to supporters, hailed the win as a message for politicians in DC that voters want candidates who “Stand Up For and Defend Democracy.” He also had a message for Trump-aligned Republicans: “You keep this up, you keep F’ing around, in November, you’re going to find out!”