Monthly Archives: May 2026

2026 Elections, African-Americans, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Democrats, Green Energy, health care, Organizing, Philadelpia, Youth and students

State Rep. Chris Rabb Wins Democratic Primary for Philly Congressional Seat, a Decisive Win for the Progressive Left

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State Rep. Chris Rabb is hugged by his son, Issa Rabb, during his primary election night event at Victorian Banquet Hall Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in Philadelphia.
State Rep. Chris Rabb is hugged by his son, Issa Rabb, during his primary election night event at Victorian Banquet Hall Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in Philadelphia.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

Rabb is now all but certain to win a two-year term to represent Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District, a seat that has been held for a decade by retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans.

By Anna Orso and Sam Janesch

Philadelphia Inquirer

State Rep. Chris Rabb, a democratic socialist who has repeatedly challenged Philadelphia’s political establishment, has won the tightly contested 3rd Congressional District primary — a striking victory for the city’s left-leaning coalition after a combative and rare open contest.

The Associated Press called the race at 10:42 p.m. on Tuesday. Rabb, a five-term state lawmaker from East Mount Airy, handily defeated two other top contenders in the hard-fought race, according to unofficial returns.

In the bluest district in the country, the result sets Rabb on an almost guaranteed path to succeeding U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, who is retiring after a decade in the seat. Rabb’s election would mark a significant shift from half of Philadelphia voters being represented by a more mainstream Democratic voice to one in the most left-wing faction of Congress.

Rabb’s election night party at Victorian Banquet Hall in Germantown erupted as his victory appeared near. The candidate danced and hugged his way through the crowd.

“I did not win tonight. We won,” he said from the stage. “This is just the beginning.”

The win represented a major blow to leaders of Philadelphia’s Democratic Party, who largely rallied around the other candidates and have clashed with Rabb for years. And it was something of a turnaround for Rabb, whose campaign nearly ran out of money after he said his former treasurer embezzled more than $160,000 in contributions.

“There was a moment a couple of months ago, not long ago, that I was on the precipice of withdrawing from this race,” Rabb said Tuesday night. “And there were people who showed up for me at my worst, in depths of adversity.” (continued)

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2026 Elections, African-Americans, Democrats, elections, Harrisburg, Organizing, Philadelpia, safety net, Violence

Sharif Street And Chris Rabb Are Asking Philly Voters To Send Them To Washington. As State Lawmakers, They’ve Had Very Different Styles.

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The 3rd Congressional District contenders both became state lawmakers in 2017 and have made their records central to their campaigns.

By Sam Janesch

Philadelphia Inquirer

May 13, 2026 – Nearly a decade ago, Chris Rabb and Sharif Street walked into the Pennsylvania Capitol for the first time as elected officials and quickly staked their ground in different ways.

Street, a lawyer and scion of a powerful political family, went to work introducing bills to make technical changes in areas like election and vandalism laws, to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of cannabis, and to end life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Rabb, who had taken on a local Democratic machine to get to Harrisburg in the first place, put out feelers for legislation that would make lawmakers pay a $100,000 fine if they are convicted of a crime, increase taxes on wealthier Pennsylvanians, and limit police assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the start of President Donald Trump’s first term.

The two Philadelphia Democrats would both go on to have more losses than wins. In a closely divided General Assembly where Republicans have kept unilateral control for six of the last 10 years, relatively few Democratic-led bills cross the finish line.

But as Street and Rabb face off in Tuesday’s tightly contested race to represent the 3rd Congressional District, the candidates’ legislative records — and their distinct governing styles — have become central to their pitches as they pursue one of the most Democratic-leaning seats in the country. (Continued)

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2026 Elections, African-Americans, Austerity, Democrats, elections, Harrisburg, Low Wage workers, Organizing, Philadelpia, Pittsburgh, Right Wing, Summer Lee, trade unions, Voting Rights

How We Made a State Supreme Court Campaign Cool

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PA. Democrats decry Jeffrey Yass spending in judicial races, compare him to Elon Musk | Politics | lancasteronline.com

A coalition of progressive and pro-worker, pro-woman organizations in Pennsylvania did the impossible and radically expanded the amount of voters engaged in a critical, but easily ignored, State Supreme Court race.


By Jeffrey Lichtenstein and Steve Paul

Convergence Magazine

April 28, 2026 – The most important question on the 2025 Pennsylvania general election ballot, retention of State Supreme Court judges, was buried halfway down the back page.

But thanks to a strategic, multipronged coalition effort, voters in this battleground state retained three Democratic justices and kept the Democrats’ five-to-two majority on the court. This win will be critical for protecting reproductive freedom, workers’ rights and environmental regulations, as well as voting rights and fair legislative maps.

In odd-numbered election years, significant numbers of Pennsylvania voters do not vote their entire ballot, a phenomenon typically referred to as roll-off. Ordinarily, as many as 30% of voters will skip offices or questions closer to the end of their ballot that seem less important or recognizable.

But a network of Pennsylvania organizations including One Pennsylvania (One PA), Make The Road PA, Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance and other members of the Working Families Party–with support from our state donor table–brought roll-off down from 30% in 2021 to 2% in this election–the lowest rate ever.

We named villains without flinching

Our coalition used diverse but integrated tactics throughout the spring, summer, and fall of 2025. This included paid, earned and new media alongside door knocking, volunteer organizing, and greeting voters at the polls. We worked to be sure we didn’t flinch from clearly naming villains, and we attempted to bring an organizing approach to every tactic, thinking as much about who is carrying our message and why they care, as much as how well it is polling. We centered working people’s political instincts and prized their established networks of trust.

Our message needed to be clear about what was at stake and who was to blame. And our tactics focused first on winning over leaders of various types who could then carry the message to the communities whose trust they’d already earned. Because we used strategies that sought to move power into regular people’s hands–rather than relying solely on professional consultants and vended programs–we defended a critical bastion in the fight against authoritarianism.

Who and where

The Working Families Party of Pennsylvania is both a movement coalition and a political party, with 10 organizational members, including One PA, who collectively represent 100,000 commonwealth residents. The member organizations include unions and community groups. Their strongest bases are Philadelphia, Allegheny County (home to Pittsburgh), and the Lehigh Valley, but they’re active in several smaller places as well, especially deindustrialized working-class towns and towns with a majority of people of color–which are often the same.

Recognizing that many in our communities get their information from social media, we also launched an effort to organize online content creators…

One PA in particular is rooted in working-class, majority-Black communities in Allegheny, Dauphin, Delaware and Philadelphia Counties. The PA Working Families Party has been active in elections since 2018; our coordination in this election built on collaborations in several previous fights. These include the election and re-election of Philadelphia City Council member Kendra Brooks in 2019 and 2023; the 2021 elections of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey; US Rep. Summer Lee’s win in 2022 and Philadelphia City Council member Nic O’Rourke’s in 2023, and Helen Gym’s run in the 2023 Philadelphia mayoral primary. (Continued)

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