The Republican City Committee is making an independent expenditure to have GOP voters write in Pat Dugan for district attorney.
Dugan is challenging District Attorney Larry Krasner in the May 20 Democratic primary. No Republican filed to run for the office.
Republicans need 1,000 write-ins for a specific candidate to be able to have a name on the ballot in November.
If Dugan receives at least 1,000 write-ins, he will have the option of accepting the Republican nomination, whether or not he wins the Democratic primary.
If Dugan declines the nomination, Republicans can select another candidate.
The website includes a disclaimer that the independent expenditure is not authorized or approved by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
GOP ward leaders agreed to the plan during a Tuesday night meeting at the United Republican Club.
“This is about making crime in Philadelphia illegal,” said Republican City Committee chairman Vince Fenerty, contending that Krasner has been lax in prosecuting shoplifting.
Fenerty also faults Krasner for firing veteran prosecutors when he took office in 2018.
“He crippled his team from day one,” Fenerty said.
For starters, Republican ward leaders are contacting the 4,400 or so GOP voters who requested mail-in ballots for the primary. Those voters will be asked to write in Dugan and vote for Ann Marie Wheatcraft for Superior Court and Matt Wolford for Commonwealth Court, both of whom face primary challengers.
Mail-in ballots are expected to arrive at people’s homes starting today.
Republican City Committee has also created a website, writeindugan.com
On the website, there are write-in instructions, whether someone is voting by mail or in person. There is also a “Meet Pat Dugan” section, highlighting his background as a lifelong Philadelphian, Army veteran and former Municipal Court judge.
If Dugan loses the primary, Republicans hope to give him a second chance to beat Krasner.
A somewhat-similar situation happened in Allegheny County in 2023.
That year, moderate Democratic DA Stephen Zappala was challenged in the primary by a public defender named Matt Dugan (no relation to Pat Dugan). Liberal billionaire donor George Soros funded Dugan’s campaign, and he beat Zappala in the primary with 55.6 percent of the vote.
However, Republicans wrote in Zappala, and his name appeared on the GOP ticket in the general election. In a turnout much higher than in the primary, Zappala prevailed with 51.4 percent of the vote. ••
