The Forward Party, an independent third party founded by entrepreneur-turned-presidential-candidate Andrew Yang, has endorsed Patrick Dugan to be Philadelphia district attorney, providing a centrist backing for the Republican nominee.

Dugan, a former Municipal Court judge who is challenging progressive Democratic incumbent District Attorney Larry Krasner, announced the endorsement during a news conference outside City Hall on Tuesday, framing it as evidence that he is a “unity candidate.”

“This race is bigger than the left, the right, the red, the blue,” said Dugan, a registered Democrat who lost to Krasner in the spring primary and is now running as the GOP nominee following a successful write-in campaign organized by the city’s Republican Party.

Yang, the former Democratic candidate for both president and New York City mayor, did not appear at the news conference Tuesday. Robert Grabel, a representative from the Forward Party’s Pennsylvania chapter, said the group is backing Dugan because “he’s focused on doing the job, not on political labels.”

Dugan said he’s hopeful the endorsement will provide a jolt to the sleepy general election campaign to be Philadelphia’s top prosecutor. With just three weeks until Election Day on Nov. 4, there’s been little in the way of campaigning or advertising by either candidate, and there have not been any public events featuring both of them.

» READ MORE: The Philly DA’s race is seeing little money and even less noise with one month to go

Any Republican campaign for citywide office is a long shot in Philadelphia, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 6-to-1. Krasner beat Dugan in the May Democratic primary by 28 percentage points.

Campaign finance papers filed last month show Dugan has struggled to fundraise, bringing in just $26,000 since announcing he would run as the Republican nominee to challenge Krasner again. In the spring, he far out-raised Krasner and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, much of it raised from labor unions.

» READ MORE: Philly’s building trades unions have turned against Pat Dugan as he runs against DA Larry Krasner as a Republican

Grabel said the Forward Party would support Dugan’s bid “in a number of ways,” but did not detail potential financial contributions. The party often provides endorsed candidates with connections to donors and offers support services like calling voters and volunteers.

Krasner declined to comment.