Vega\u2019s challenge is the culmination of three years of significant opposition to Krasner\u2019s approach to criminal justice reform from police and their allies, who have blamed him for incidents of gun violence. Krasner was a frequent target of Philadelphia\u2019s former top federal prosecutor under President Donald Trump, Republican U.S. Attorney William McSwain<\/a>, who blamed<\/a> him when a police officer was shot and killed while serving an arrest warrant last spring. Lawmakers in Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania capital, passed legislation in 2019 taking away some of the DA\u2019s power<\/a> to prosecute certain gun crimes in Philadelphia, giving them instead to the attorney general<\/a>.<\/p>\n Philadelphia\u00a0saw a rise in gun violence this past summer coinciding with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the kind of spike that is typical in major cities during warm months. The Philadelphia City Council adopted a resolution<\/a> in September urging Mayor Jim Kenney to declare\u00a0the city’s gun violence issue a citywide emergency. Kenney has so far declined to do so. Eight people were shot in broad daylight outside of a\u00a0public transit\u00a0station in the city\u2019s Olney neighborhood last week, with people quickly<\/a> placing the blame<\/a> on Krasner. Transit police officers were present<\/a> during the shooting and were not able to stop it.<\/p>\n Krasner said that he couldn\u2019t comment on criticism from city and law enforcement\u00a0officials blaming his policies for recent violence but that he would keep working with officials toward safety and reform. \u201cWe will continue to work with elected officials and law enforcement to ensure the safety of the citizens of Philadelphia while continuing to do the necessary work of reform in policy and in practice to ensure fair and equitable outcomes for all,\u201d he told The Intercept.<\/p>\n The incumbent DA\u2019s chances of winning the May primary in the heavily Democratic city are strong; he has raised more money than his opponent this cycle and has significantly more cash on hand. Still, just how much traction Vega\u2019s campaign gains \u2014 at a time when tough-on-crime rhetoric is resonating\u00a0with some segments of the public \u2014 will be a bellwether for the challenges facing other radical reformers elected on similar promises. That includes St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell, up for reelection in 2022; St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, up for reelection in 2025; and San Francisco\u00a0DA Chesa Boudin, up for reelection in 2024, who have also faced intense backlash for their decarceral policies. The Philadelphia race will test whether aggressive criminal justice reforms can survive the inevitable opposition they face from groups that see such reforms as a threat to the status quo and if progressive prosecutors can out-message law enforcement groups on the other side.<\/p>\n The pushback to decarceral policies comes in part from a societal desire for punishment and redress, not a data-informed approach to addressing the root causes of crime, said Chenjerai Kumanyika, a Philadelphia-based scholar, journalist, and assistant professor of journalism and media studies at Rutgers University. \u201cI think that the desire for redress, or the desire to have someone deal with our loved ones who have been killed or hurt, is then manipulated by the state to become a punitive thirst that justifies policing,\u201d Kumanyika said. \u201cThat nexus is what I\u2019d like to see become central to the district attorney\u2019s race.\u201d<\/p>\n Given the recent incidents of gun violence in Philadelphia, some local officials worry that tough-on-crime narratives will have traction, even among voters who want to see reforms to the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n “Sometimes I\u2019m fearful about those forces and their ability to be successful at a time when people are frightened,\u201d said City Council member Jamie Gauthier, who introduced the resolution asking the mayor to declare gun violence a citywide emergency.\u00a0She said that more people should be talking about gun violence as a public health issue. \u201cThat\u2019s a part of why I\u2019m such a champion of Larry\u2019s. Because if he goes and if Vega gets in there, that\u2019s not where we\u2019re gonna be.\u201d<\/p>\n The National Guard monitors activity outside City Hall in the aftermath of Walter Wallace, Jr.’s fatal shooting by Philadelphia police, in Philadelphia, Penn., on October 30, 2020.<\/p>\n \nPhoto: Mark Makela\/Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n When Vega announced<\/u> in December that he would run against Krasner in the primary, he said the\u00a0DA \u201cnever talks about the victim\u201d and hasn\u2019t kept communities safe. Vega, who is 64 years old, is also currently suing the\u00a0DA for age discrimination over being fired when Krasner took office.<\/p>\n Vega has framed his campaign as a route to a \u201csafer, fairer Philadelphia\u201d through \u201creal progressive reform,\u201d saying that he\u2019s running in part to address the city\u2019s murder rate<\/a>. When he launched his campaign website, he touted his run as an antidote to Krasner\u2019s policies. \u201cPhiladelphia cannot afford four more years of an absent District Attorney, who ignores black and brown victims of crime as homicides skyrocket,\u201d reads an archived version of Vega\u2019s website from December, which has since been redesigned. \u201cWe need a District Attorney who puts public safety first.\u201d<\/p>\n Vega is running on improving the DA\u2019s relationship with communities and wants to start an \u201cadopt-a-school\u201d program where prosecutors meet and engage with children and parents a few times a month. Vega also wants to stop withdrawing gun cases<\/a> and pleading out shooting cases and expand the conviction integrity unit relaunched under Krasner.<\/p>\n In response to Vega\u2019s comments on his treatment of victims, Krasner said, \u201cThat\u2019s a lie, and Mr. Vega knows it.\u201d Krasner said that he had \u201cdramatically expanded our programs to support victims from what existed when Mr. Vega was there,\u201d including a team that offers support in every homicide case and a unit dedicated to connecting victims and their families with necessary services. \u201cWhat we do not do is use victims for political gain,\u201d Krasner said.<\/p>\n Practices of previous administrations caused immense harm to victims, Krasner added, including wrongful convictions where both victims and the wrongfully convicted suffer from a mismanagement of justice.<\/p>\n Asked about criticism that he would take a tough-on-crime approach that has historically disproportionately harmed Black and brown communities, Vega said his campaign is not \u201ctough on crime\u201d but that he wants to keep communities safe. Vega said he would address disparities in the criminal justice system by trying to increase diversity in the DA\u2019s office and would seek to distinguish between petty and violent crimes, with a particular focus on people with substance use issues and in sex work.<\/p>\n \u201cOur citizens, especially the communities of color, are being devastated by crimes of violence and drug dealing,\u201d Vega told The Intercept. He also wants to address petty crimes of \u201cshoplifting, burglary, and prostitution. Those people aren\u2019t doing it \u2019cause they want to or making a career of it. These people are under the slave mentality of, they\u2019re addicted to drugs and are trying to feed a drug habit,\u201d Vega said, saying he would want to send people experiencing drug use and mental health issues to diversion programs.<\/p>\n Vega has raised $132,300 so far from 294 individual donors, including $12,600 from the labor union for the Philadelphia Police Department, the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5, and another $5,000 from the union\u2019s PAC. Vega also contributed $10,900 of his own money. Vega also has support from the Philadelphia Firefighters’ and Paramedic Union, which gave $5,000 to his campaign; the Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 League for Political Education, which gave $2,500; and the PAC for the Sprinkler Fitters Local Union No. 692, which gave $3,000. Vega raised the bulk of his contributions in less than a month. Local attorneys, including several others who were fired from Krasner\u2019s office and hired by the attorney general, have contributed to Vega\u2019s campaign. He\u2019s also received contributions from two attorneys<\/a> who represented a Philadelphia cop in a case Krasner filed during uprisings against police brutality last summer\u00a0\u2014 the officer had beaten protesters with a baton<\/a> during two separate incidents in one week. The campaign does not yet have any endorsements from local groups or elected officials.<\/p>\n Vega also has support from the Protect Our Police PAC. The PAC started last June and is led by ex-cops<\/a>, some with a history of violence and\u00a0hateful posts on social media, according to<\/a> Philly Power Research, a group of volunteer researchers investigating politics in the city. The group has raised two-thirds of its funds from Timothy Mellon<\/a>, an heir to the Mellon banking fortune and a top Trump donor who called<\/a> federal programs like the Affordable Care Act and food stamps \u201cslavery redux\u201d in a self-published 2015 autobiography.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t control whether someone supports me, backs me, whatever,\u201d Vega said. \u201cBut my campaign is not pro-police.\u201d<\/p>\n As an assistant DA, Vega was involved<\/a> in prosecuting a retrial of a high-profile wrongful conviction case where the defendant, Anthony Wright, was acquitted by a jury and exonerated<\/a> by DNA evidence after being incarcerated for 25 years. Asked about the case, Vega said it was not his case and that Wright wasn\u2019t exonerated, but cleared by a jury. (A jury cleared Wright during the 2016 trial after being presented with DNA evidence proving his innocence.) Vega was deposed in 2017 as part of a civil rights suit brought by Wright against the city, in which he said he would not have dismissed the indictment against Wright even if he had learned that the police officers involved had fabricated a confession from Wright or planted evidence.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was the case of another DA that had it for four years,\u201d Vega said, noting that he was brought on several weeks before the trial. \u201cMy only participation in that case was calling the civilian witnesses and I think the crime scene personnel. With respect to the rest of the case, I was not involved at all. It was not my case.\u201d<\/p>\n Vega received campaign contributions from two police officers who worked on the Wright wrongful conviction case, including an officer whose work Vega defended in statements he made when re-prosecuting the case in 2016 amid allegations that the officer fabricated a confession from Wright, WHYY reported<\/a>. After WHYY asked the campaign about the contributions from the two cops, the campaign said they would return them. Vega told The Intercept that he can\u2019t keep track of all donations he receives and can\u2019t control who supports him. \u201cI don\u2019t want any hint of impropriety, so I returned that,\u201d Vega said, noting that police officers aren\u2019t allowed to contribute to political campaigns.<\/p>\n Former criminal defense attorney Chuck Peruto announced<\/a> earlier this month that he would run for the seat as a Republican. Peruto has said<\/a> that if Vega wins the primary, he won\u2019t challenge him in the general.<\/p>\n Philadelphia prosecutor Carlos Vega is seen leaving court in Philadelphia, Penn., on March 9, 2015.<\/p>\n \nPhoto:Matt Rourke\/AP<\/p><\/div>\n Krasner was elected<\/u> in 2017 on a promise to work toward ending mass incarceration and radically changing the way the city\u2019s criminal justice system treated crime, substance use issues, and mental health.<\/p>\n His chances of winning reelection are strong. Krasner\u2019s campaign has $399,000 on hand, including $211,984 raised last\u00a0year from 212 donors. The current DA has support from the\u00a0Pennsylvania Working Families Party, Real Justice PAC, Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, and the unions AFSCME 1199C, which represents hospital and health care employees, AFSCME District Council 33, the union for city and public employees, and AFSCME District Council 47, which represents workers in the nonprofit, higher education, and government sectors.<\/p>\nThe Philadelphia race will test whether aggressive criminal justice reforms can survive the inevitable opposition they face from groups that see such reforms as a threat to the status quo.<\/blockquote>\n
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\n\u201cI can\u2019t control whether someone supports me, backs me, whatever,\u201d Vega said. \u201cBut my campaign is not pro-police.\u201d<\/blockquote>\n
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