BY BRENDAN SAMPLE – CHESTNUT HILL LOCAL
With the Democratic primary coming up in May, the eight candidates for Philadelphia District Attorney, seven of whom are Democrats, came together last Thursday for a debate at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.
The Chestnut Hill Local co-sponsored the debate with WHYY, and Local editor Pete Mazzaccaro and WHYY’s Dave Davies served as moderators. Participating candidates were Teresa Carr Deni, Rich Negrin, Michael Untermeyer, Joe Khan, Tariq El-Shabazz, Lawrence Krasner, Jack O’Neill and Beth Grossman, the only Republican candidate
After making their opening statements, the candidates were quickly asked whether they felt that current DA Seth Williams should resign in the wake of a federal indictment on corruption charges stemming from gifts he received while DA. While the candidates would go on to express differing opinions on a number of issues, all eight were in agreement that Williams should resign.
When asked questions about how they would handle certain issues, such as prison overcrowding, gun violence, corruption and quality of life crimes, the candidates largely emphasized the need for reform in the DA’s office. Krasner, a longtime criminal defense attorney, consistently brought up reform and how, as a political outsider and the self-proclaimed most progressive candidate running, he was the best one to make the necessary changes to the DA’s office.
“If reform is what is needed, then that reform needs to come from the person with a proven track record for supporting reform and for making reform from the outside,” Krasner said.