MEET PAT DUGAN
“I gave up a job I LOVE, for the city I LOVE. I have answered the call to serve my entire life to protect our citizens. I am answering the call to serve once more because I believe my plan will make our city safer for our children and our grandchildren.”
ACCOMPLISHED PRESIDENT JUDGE
- Faithfully served as Judge in the Municipal Court for the last 17 years
- Appointed to Municipal Court by Governor Ed Rendell in 2007
- Elected in 2009 and retained in 2015 and 2021 for Municipal Court
- Elected by his peers as President Judge in 2019 and served thru 2024
- Focused on diversion, innovation, and reform initiatives in Municipal Court that have become national models over the last decade
- Founded Philadelphia Veterans Court in 2010 as a “national model” and lowered recidivism to less than 10% with diversion programs
- Successfully guided the Municipal court through the 2020 Pandemic, civil unrest, and a destructive computer virus
- Authorized the implementation of the lauded “national model” Eviction Diversion Program that kept over 46,000 families in their homes with nearly $300,000,000 in rent payments made to landlords during the COVID pandemic from 2020 to 2022 and was recently made permanent law by City Council in 2024
- Appointed as one of nine Judges to the newly created Judicial Ethics Advisory Board by the PA Supreme Court in 2022
DECORATED VETERAN
- Served honorably and with distinction in the Army and Army Reserve as an enlisted airborne infantryman, civil affairs soldier, and Army JAG Officer for over 23 years and retired as a Captain
- First enlisted in the Army Reserves in 1981 as a Nuclear Biological Warfare Specialist, and from 1983-1989 was active duty as an airborne infantryman. Served with the 82nd Airborne Division as a M60 Gunner in Recon 1/505 Airborne Infantry, in South Korea with the 2nd Infantry Division, and in Panama with the 1/508th Airborne Infantry
- Reenlisted after 9-11 at the start of the Iraq War in 2003 at the age of 43
- Worked alongside the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority where he was instrumental in forming one of the first ever Women’s Empowerment Groups in Iraq and coordinated and instructed democracy classes to various Councils and officials in the Iraqi provinces of Ninewa and Dohuk
- Received more than two dozen military awards as a highly decorated Veteran from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan including the Bronze Star, Combat Action Badge, Parachutists Badge, Expert Infantryman’s Badge, and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Lifelong Philadelphian
Husband, Dad and POP
- Born in Fairmount and raised in the Frankford section of the city by a single mom and 4 siblings
- Attended St. Joachim Grammar School and scored high enough on entrance exam to earn a Gino’s Scholarship to St. Joseph’s Preparatory High School
- After returning home from overseas, earned his JD from Rutgers-Camden Law School
- Practiced law for over a decade emphasizing cases involving children and the less fortunate
- Shares his blended beloved family of 6 children and 12 grandchildren with his wife Nancy residing in a Northeast Philly row home
- Active longtime member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and has been involved in several charities for decades
- WIZ WITOUT AND HATES THE DALLAS COWBOYS! GO BIRDS!
