Chris Rabb wins retiring Rep. Dwight Evans’ seat, becoming Philly’s first democratic socialist in Congress
“That is a beautiful expression of participatory democracy and the collective power of young people to change the world,” Rabb said.
State Rep. Chris Rabb officially won the 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans and become the first democratic socialist to represent Philadelphia in Congress.
Rabb, 56, of East Mount Airy, is a progressive who emerged from a tightly contested primary that challenged the city’s longstanding Democratic establishment.
In one of the bluest congressional districts in the country, he did not face a Republican in Tuesday’s election. Dennis Mahoney, a humanitarian aid worker from South Philadelphia, appeared on the ballot as an independent candidate.
During a stop at West Philadelphia High School on election night, Rabb said he was excited to see the broader level of enthusiasm among young people for this election, and how they have organized to get out the vote for races all over, not just his own.
“That is a beautiful expression of participatory democracy and the collective power of young people to change the world,” he said.
» READ MORE: Chris Rabb’s path to victory in the U.S. House race ran through Northwest Philly and the progressive left
Rabb won the May primary against State Sen. Sharif Street and physician Ala Stanford by performing well in Northwest Philadelphia, home to a dense pocket of pro-establishment Black voters, and wards that often support progressives. The district covers the western half of the city and South Philadelphia.
After securing the nomination, Rabb spent much of the rest of the year supporting progressive candidates as they tallied primary wins in other states. Tuesday’s results will measure the expanding footprint of the party’s leftist bloc, and will determine which lawmakers Rabb will join on Capitol Hill, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and, potentially, Michigan U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.
The Michigan race was cited by Kristina Wagers, a 32-year-old voter in Point Breeze who cast her ballot for Rabb Tuesday.
“I’m hoping that a lot of more left-leaning, younger folks get into Pennsylvania politics like Abdul El-Sayed,” she said. “We need people not afraid to make change instead of going with the establishment.”
For Leticia Marteleto and Fernando Lara, dual citizens of the United States and Brazil, the recent elections in Brazil rejecting the right wing were a motivator to vote in the Pennsylvania election.
“It’s not just about this country, but I think it is a broader movement at this point,” said Marteleto, 54 and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Both were enthusiastic about Rabb’s progressive platform and saw Gov. Josh Shapiro as too centrist, though they both voted for him.
“We need to fight for progressive policies and not accommodate so easily,” said Lara, 56.
Staff writers Nate File, Henry Savage and Zoe Greenberg contributed to this article.
