PITTSBURGH — A D.C.-based social justice PAC with no ties to western Pennsylvania has invested a whopping $734,000 into electing liberal public defender Matt Dugan as Allegheny County’s district attorney over incumbent Steve Zappala in next Tuesday’s Pennsylvania Democratic primary.
The Justice and Safety PAC, a national organization backed by liberal billionaire businessman George Soros, has used the bulk of its money on ads and mailers aimed at Zappala’s record. Take the Soros money out of the equation, and Dugan has only raised $76,764.17 for his entire campaign, with Zappala raising $226,800.
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Zappala has blasted the outside influence, noting that the social justice PAC was spending 10 times as much money to elect Dugan as Dugan was spending on himself.
“No rational person believes that any politician who gets nearly all their funding from one source won’t be taking orders from them once taking office,” Zappala spokesman Mike Mikus said in the statement.
Instead of donating directly to Dugan, the Soros group is listing the commercials and mailers as in-kind donations with Dugan’s authorization. This unusual arrangement allows the PAC to have final say on the ad.
In short, Dugan seemingly has no say, even in his own campaign message.
In 2017, Soros himself spent $1.7 million supporting the winning campaign of Larry Krasner for Philadelphia district attorney, a whopping five times as much as Krasner himself spent. The amount represented over 30% of all the spending in the seven-candidate primary.
Under Krasner’s tenure, recidivism rates have skyrocketed, thanks to his refusal to charge low-level offenders. Last year, the Philadelphia Police Department recorded 502 murders, down slightly from the record-high 562 homicides in 2021.
Most of the murders in Philadelphia in 2022 were from shootings, with nearly 80% of the victims being black, according to city data. Locals here say they fear two things with a liberal criminal defense attorney as the Allegheny County district attorney: skyrocketing crime and diminished victims’ rights.
As of Monday, the Pennsylvania Justice and Safety PAC had not yet filed a campaign finance report detailing who else is funding the group aside from Soros.
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One victims rights advocate said the prospect of Dugan as the Allegheny County district attorney troubled her.
“The choice for DA is one of the most important offices we have the privilege to elect,” she said. “It must be given careful consideration, lest we elect the wrong person. All one has to do is look at the Philadelphia … Those of us that work in the system understand that electing a public defender as our chief law enforcement officer is not in the best interest of our safety nor victims.”
