Larry Krasner, a civil rights lawyer with no government experience, is poised to be the next DA in Philadelphia

At a time when it feels as if all hope is lost and it seems like there is little chance of restoring sanity to the federal government anytime soon, it is especially important to remember that local elections matter. That’s why Tuesday’s upset in the race for district attorney in Philadelphia is such a big deal.

The ACLU had undertaken a massive canvassing effort to turn out its voters in the race and try to get candidates with progressive stances elected. With Jeff Sessions as attorney general and a return to mandatory minimums for drug sentences newly in effect under his watch, the organization believes that a local strategy is an effective way to combat the nation’s insanely high incarceration rate. And so far the strategy seems to be working: a combination of the anti-Trump resistance along with voter turnout. These proved to be key in Larry Krasner’s victory in the Democratic primary—a progressive candidate who has a background in civil rights law and has defended Black Lives Matter and Occupy protesters.

In a typical race for DA, candidates advertise their tough-on-crime credentials and their proposals for improving public safety. Krasner, however, took an unorthodox approach. He wants to end cash bail. He's against the death penalty. He wants fewer people stopped and frisked. And he bragged about all the cops he's sued over the years. "I have filed 75 civil rights lawsuits in the last 25 years against police for corruption, and for physical abuse. I have pursued those cases vigorously, even though it's not the most lucrative thing, and doesn't make you especially popular," Krasner said during the campaign.

Krasner ran against six other candidates, including five former prosecutors and a former judge. He has no government experience and it was his outsider status along with his differing views—like his desire to move away from the antiquated approach of locking people up and throwing away the key (a move right out of the Jeff Sessions playbook) for nonviolent offenses, and his opposition to the death penalty—that made him attractive to voters.