One leading Republican candidate for Pennsylvania governor wants to impeach Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner<\/a>. Another wants to abolish the right of Philly voters to elect their own top prosecutor, turning it into a position appointed by the governor instead<\/a>. A third is pushing for a special prosecutor<\/a> \u201cto address the wave of violent crime that has overtaken\u201d the city.<\/p>\n As they jostle for position in a crowded GOP primary<\/a>, the leading candidates \u2014 all of them white, none of them from largely Black Philadelphia \u2014 seem to agree on one thing<\/a>: Krasner and his fellow Democrats have failed on crime. And they increasingly paint Krasner as an extension of state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the only established Democrat running for governor<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe modern-day progressives in this city and in this state, people like [Gov.] Tom Wolf, Josh Shapiro, [Mayor] Jim Kenney, and Larry Krasner \u2014 they\u2019re all spitting in your face,\u201d former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain said during a campaign visit to Philadelphia earlier this month, touting the idea of making the DA a job he could appoint as governor. \u201cEnough is enough. Just like you I\u2019m sick and tired of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Republicans are running a statewide version of the political playbook used against Krasner\u2019s reelection campaign last year. It didn\u2019t work: Krasner easily won a second term<\/a>.<\/p>\n Their tough-on-crime rhetoric omits critical context: Gun violence has surged in many cities over the last two years, both in places with reform-minded, progressive prosecutors like Krasner, and those with more traditional ones. A national study of 2020 homicides found that Philadelphia had the 23rd highest increase<\/a> of 34 cities examined.<\/p>\n Soaring gun violence<\/a> across the country in 2020 coincided with the societal disruption of the pandemic<\/a>, and has continued into 2022.<\/p>\n That\u2019s provided a new opening for the law-and-order campaigning Republicans have used for decades. They\u2019re betting a message that didn\u2019t resonate in Philadelphia will find better reception statewide. And with none able to count on significant votes out of the heavily Democratic city, the tactic is likely more about speaking about<\/i> Philadelphia to the rest of the state.<\/p>\n State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams, a West Philadelphia Democrat, said race is one factor motivating the GOP proposals, which he called \u201ca complicated dog whistle\u201d \u2014 effectively using crime afflicting Black and brown communities in the city to appeal to mostly white voters outside of it.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: The first fund-raising reports in the Pa. governor\u2019s race show it\u2019s up for grabs<\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve, a Brown University professor who taught criminal justice at Temple, said she heard echoes of former President Donald Trump\u2019s rhetoric about crime<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a dog whistle that is used to ignite white fear,\u201d Van Cleve said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to dismiss the race and racist component,\u201d said added. \u201cIf you\u2019re … campaigning in a large state that is predominately white and you live in the suburbs and you want to rally the base, people see Philadelphia as a place where these problems fester.\u201d<\/p>\n The Republican campaigns, asked if there are racial elements to their strategies, repeated their attacks on Democrats.<\/p>\n Less than three months before the May 17 primary, the candidates are increasingly clashing with each other over who can best stem the violence.<\/p>\n Democrats and academics are quick to note that the GOP focus on Philadelphia draws attention only to a city with significant Black and brown populations, and where Democrats outnumber Republicans seven to one. Shapiro, of Montgomery County, has dismissed the Republican proposals as \u201cpolitical stunts.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is patronizing,\u201d said State Sen. Vincent Hughes, a West Philadelphia Democrat. \u201cIt is offensive. It attempts to say the citizens of Philadelphia do not have the wherewithal to elect our own leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n He rattled off statistics showing crime increases in \u201coverwhelmingly white\u201d counties across the state that go unmentioned by Republicans, and said their proposals would make Philadelphians \u201csecond-class citizens\u201d in their own state.<\/p>\n David Abrams, a Penn law professor who tracks crime statistics, said crime is driven by many factors, similarly to economic issues.<\/p>\n \u201cI would be kind of crazy to say local economic issues don\u2019t have anything to do with decisions made in Washington or national business conditions,\u201d Abrams said.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: A rising tide of stolen guns helps fuel Philadelphia\u2019s gun violence epidemic<\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n State Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman made the first policy move on Philadelphia <\/b>crime, asking the state House last month to consider impeaching Krasner<\/a>. Corman\u2019s primary opponents dismissed that as political theater, and Republicans who control the legislature showed little interest.<\/p>\n Corman denied using crime to bolster his campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cThis <\/b>issue is bigger than the governor\u2019s race in my opinion,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cThis is the health and safety of the people of Philadelphia.\u201d<\/p>\n Dave White, a Delaware County businessman, followed with a proposal for legislation creating a special prosecutor<\/a> for crime in Philadelphia. He also took a swipe at McSwain, who was the top federal prosecutor in the city as violent crime increased. White said McSwain\u2019s \u201conly contribution to taking on crime appears to be plastering his face on taxpayer-funded billboards<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n McSwain made his big reveal earlier this month: pitching a change to the state constitution to eliminate Philadelphia\u2019s DA as an elected office<\/a>. All of Pennsylvania\u2019s 67 counties currently elect their DAs, and McSwain\u2019s proposal would change that only for Philadelphia.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is stunning that this candidate, who has done nothing to improve the lives of Philadelphians, thinks that he is entitled to take away their vote and instead pick representatives for them,\u201d Krasner said in a statement. \u201cThat\u2019s called fascism.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rev. Carl Day, a North Philadelphia pastor, criticized the candidates for campaigning with the local police union but not coming to churches like his to discuss crime with residents.<\/p>\n \u201cThat doesn\u2019t sent a warm message to the community at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for White said he \u201chas spoken extensively with concerned residents\u201d in Philadelphia about crime.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: We’re tracking the candidates running for Pennsylvania governor<\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n Terrez McCleary, an anti-crime activist who co-founded Mothers Bonded By Grief, praised Krasner\u2019s work to exonerate people wrongly prosecuted by his predecessors, but sees him as too lenient on repeat offenders. She rejected the idea of an appointed DA.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not think our rights should be taken from us,\u201d she said. \u201cThe crime is everywhere. It\u2019s not just Philadelphia.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, some Republicans in the state House want to give the state attorney general what\u2019s known as \u201cconcurrent jurisdiction\u201d over gun crime in Philadelphia. That began as a pilot program signed into law in 2019 by Wolf, a Democrat, but soon set off hostilities<\/a> between Shapiro and Krasner.<\/p>\n Republican candidates use that to criticize Shapiro for not being aggressive enough on crime, though they aren\u2019t advocating for the law to be renewed.<\/p>\n Shapiro said in a statement that he is \u201claser-focused on serious, data-driven approaches to save lives and make our communities more safe \u2014 and my attention will remain there, not on political stunts that have no basis in the realities of law enforcement work.\u201d<\/p>\n The state has been here before. Tom Ridge, a Republican congressman at the time, campaigned for governor in 1994 with a \u201cwar on crime\u201d message that promised \u201ca tough, comprehensive crime bill.\u201d Ridge, in his first news conference as governor the next year, called for a special legislative session to advance that plan.<\/p>\n More than 30 bills were approved in that 10-month session, including legislation to speed executions in death penalty cases, a \u201cthree-strikes\u201d law requiring at least 25-year sentences for repeat violent offenders, and a study that led to the construction of more prisons. Critics called the result long on punishment, short on prevention.<\/p>\n Williams noted that many of the provisions of that plan are now motivating pushes for criminal justice reform in Harrisburg. He said Republicans who \u201cpander\u201d on the issue to win a primary will face problems in the general election.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess it makes good politics in a Republican primary to say, \u2018They\u2019re bad, we\u2019re good,\u2019 \u201d Williams said. \u201cI don\u2019t believe if you win a primary that way you can win a general.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n