2021 Philadelphia Election: Larry Krasner Declares Victory Over Chuck Peruto For 2nd Term As District Attorney
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Democrat Larry Krasner has won another term as Philadelphia's district attorney in Tuesday night's general election. The incumbent Krasner claimed victory over his challenger Chuck Peruto shortly after the Republican conceded Tuesday night.
With 87%% of divisions reporting, Krasner holds 69% of the vote to Peruto's 30%.
The party is still continuing at the Krasner headquarters.
Krasner talked about initiatives he's looking forward to introducing. Questions about gun crimes and homicide rates in the city were asked of him and he said he's looking forward to continuing to find solutions to the very difficult cultural problems. But he's also hopeful he can bridge the gap between fellow Democratic leaders in Philadelphia.
"We've already done a retreat within the office in which we have considered policy from other jurisdictions. We have a strong policy team," Krasner said. "We have a criminologist, and we have a data team, and we have broken down to several subgroups that are studying those different ideas. We will be prepared by the new year to announce an agenda, hopefully, a four-year agenda."
"First, I would congratulate him because he beat my pants off. It's not even close from what I see so far. The city chose where it wants to go, what it wants to be, what it wants to do. If that's what they want, that's what they want," Peruto said.
Part of Krasner's message to his supporters was that his campaign was "a movement led by Black, brown and broken people."
Krasner survived a challenge in May's primary from Carlos Vega, who spent 35 years in the District Attorney's Office before being fired by Krasner.
Krasner ran on his platform of criminal justice reform, while Peruto attacked the incumbent over Philadelphia's near-historic murder rate.
In his first term, Krasner worked to depart from heavy-handed law and order from the past. He says Philadelphia voters have overwhelmingly approved his agenda.
"There are two things that are central to what we have to do," Krasner said Tuesday morning. "One is to focus on the most serious crime, but the other one to bring reform and Philadelphians know what they want and that's what they want. We're going to continue to do that. We'll have more specific announcements as we move forward, but we're really excited about a second term."
CBS3's Joe Holden contributed to this report.
