Last week marked the deadline for candidates to file nominating petitions for the May 18 primary, and the top race on the ballot will be the Democratic primary for district attorney.
District Attorney Larry Krasner will face former Assistant District Attorney Carlos Vega. The Republican candidate is longtime defense attorney Chuck Peruto.
Vega, a South Philadelphia resident, turned in almost 6,000 signatures.
“I have a lot of support,” he said.
Vega, 64, worked for the DA’s office for 35 years, including 30 years in the homicide unit. He was fired by Krasner when he took office in 2018. He is making his first bid for office.
Since announcing his candidacy in December, Vega has spent time raising money and reaching out to community leaders.
The candidate said he is “surprised and humbled” by all the small $10 and $25 donations he’s received.
“My donors are local. They’re Philadelphians,” he said.
Vega, a father of three who worked a second job at UPS for 15 years to support his family, said his career has been marked with a commitment to victims, their families and witnesses.
“I’ve always been their voice,” he said.
The prosecutors in the DA’s office “are the people’s lawyers,” Vega said, promising to hire “the best people possible” and provide any necessary training and education. He plans an Adopt-A-School program that would send ADAs into schools to meet with students and their parents.
Vega has seen a lot as a three-decade homicide prosecutor. Of the 400-plus murder trials he prosecuted, most featured two moms in the courtroom — one who lost a child to violence and another who lost a child to the system.
Today, he said, shootings and violent crime are getting out of control. The victims seem to be getting younger.
“We’re losing our children in record numbers,” he said.
Though Vega spent most of his career prosecuting murder cases, he worked in other departments in his early years at the DA’s office.
“I know how each unit runs,” he said.
Vega, who grew up in an especially violent time in New York, said he believes in redemption for good people who make a mistake and find themselves in the criminal justice system. If elected, he vows accountability for violent criminals, but also compassion for some charged with lesser crimes.
Vega said he believes in the DA office’s existing diversionary programs, adding that he doesn’t think Krasner is using them enough.
For some defendants, such as the homeless and those with drug and mental health issues, he said it’s more important to address their needs than to focus on a harsh punishment.
Probation is the best sentence for some defendants, in Vega’s view, specifically for those who want to be on a path to success. For some, that could include a sealing of their criminal record.
Vega plans an “all hands on deck” approach to running the DA’s office. He’d work with businesses, religious figures and community leaders to deter at-risk youth from becoming part of the criminal justice system, either as a defendant or victim.
He’d work with trade unions to educate youths who won’t be going to college.
He needs the resources of the police department, state attorney general’s office, the federal government and City Council to reduce crime rates.
As more Philadelphians receive the coronavirus vaccine, Vega hopes to be able to deliver these parts of his platform to individuals and groups in the flesh.
“I’m a people person,” he said.
Vega considers himself a career “public servant,” not a “career prosecutor.” He views Krasner as “antagonistic” in some ways.
The deadline is May 3 to register to vote, and it will be interesting to see if a significant number of Republicans switch parties to vote in the primary. Most of those voters, presumably, would be for Vega, with a career of prosecuting alleged killers, rather than a longtime civil rights attorney like Krasner.
Vega sees a city that is dangerous for young people, with businesses fleeing. He believes voters are motivated for change, and there will be high turnout.
Vega said he cares for and loves Philadelphia, and would be better than the incumbent for the city’s future.
“My heart is in the right place,” he said. ••
