Politics

Prosecutors have a great deal of discretion over how people are charged and sentenced; their policies shape their local court systems and the rates at which people end up in prison. That means that prosecutor races can be crossroads for local criminal justice policy, depending on who’s running and whether they’re proposing to shift the status quo.

Dozens of these races are unfolding even in the off-year of 2025; they’re largely concentrated in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Many drew just one candidate, or, like in Newport News, they were already resolved this spring in a party primary. But some contested races remain and will be decided on Nov. 4 in a general election.

With November fast approaching, Bolts today delves into the still-unresolved prosecutors’ races that feature some policy stakes.

To that end, Bolts reached out to all of the non-incumbent candidates in counties or cities of at least 80,000 residents, requesting an interview to learn about how they’d approach their new office if they were elected. Some of the candidates who replied relished getting to discuss their views, however most did not answer at all, echoing a broader silence about policy views on their campaign websites and other public materials.

Elections of note include Philadelphia, Seattle, Manhattan and Nassau County in New York, and the most populous cities in Virginia’s Hamptons Road region.

So far, in the 2025 primaries, reform prosecutors have held their own and are favored to keep the offices they already held, if not slightly expand their ranks—a turnaround from the progressive losses in California last year. Philadelphia’s Larry Krasner and Manhattan’s Alvin Bragg beat primary challengers who campaigned on cracking down on crime more aggressively, though each now faces a general election with the same script. In Norfolk, Virginia, reform prosecutor Ramon Fatehi survived a tough primary; he is now running unopposed and set to gain an ally in neighboring Newport News. Seattleites seem likely to oust their punitive city attorney come the fall.

Despite several headline races, Bolts analysis continues to show how rarely elected prosecutors face any contestation at all—a trend Bolts has covered for years, which neither the rise of “progressive prosecutors” nor any pushback has changed.

Of the 66 prosecutor races Bolts has identified this year, only 15 feature multiple candidates in November.