Good news and bad news in the race for Philadelphia DA
News that Lawrence Krasner is entering the Philly DA's race is an exciting development for civil rights advocates. But will a crowded field ensure the re-election of ethically challenged Seth Williams?
The election for district attorney in Philadelphia is shaping up as the weirdest race since....well, you know. How weird? Consider the allegedly powerful Fraternal Order of Police and its desperation to find a candidate who will take out incumbent DA Seth Williams in the May Democratic primary while presumably also supporting its "Blue Lives Matter" agenda.
Friends who stay up and listen to WIP sports-talk radio at 4 a.m. (Memo to friends: Please don't do that) are telling me they've been hearing radio ads from the FOP seeking to recruit a candidate for the race. One wonders how that will work out: "Hi, this is Mike from Roxborough -- I was wondering who the Sixers can get for Okafor and I'd also like to support a law shielding the names of officers in police-involved shootings..." This after the FOP also took the highly unusual step of seeking candidates with a billboard on I-95.
The quick backstory is this: Incumbent Williams would normally be expected to win in a cakewalk -- but that was before his acknowledgment that he accepted more than $160,000 in initially unreported gifts, before the bizarre episode when a girlfriend was charged with slashing the DA's tires, and before the FBI started asking questions about his personal and political finances. Now, to muster up a lawyer cliche, the sharks are circling: As many as five Democrats and one Republican are planning to challenge Williams in either the primary or November's general election.
The possible ouster of Williams would be a positive thing -- his ethical lapses are appalling, and after first winning election as a reformer on 2009, he's been too often a disappointing voice for an unacceptable status quo. But the early tone of the race has been troubling: Too much of what we've heard has been along the lines of "my ethics are better than Seth's ethics" (kind of a low bar) and not enough to address a city that on one hand has far too many murders and on the other hand has seen neighborhoods ripped apart by the badly botched "war on drugs" and mindless mass-incarceration-style justice.