State Rep. Chris Rabb, an anti-establishment progressive, is running for Dwight Evans’ Congress seat

State Rep. Chris Rabb, a progressive lawmaker who twice won elections without the city’s Democratic establishment support, is running for Congress.

Rabb, 55, told The Inquirer he is running to fill the seat of retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans.

“Working Philadelphians are being squeezed by the same corporate-backed status quo and political cowardice that have failed our community for generations,” Rabb said in a statement ahead of his announcement Tuesday. “I’m running because our communities deserve more than performative politics. I’m running because we must fearlessly build a government that delivers economic opportunities, dignity, and justice for all of us.”

Rabb’s announcement comes a week after State Sen. Sharif Street, Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party chairman, launched his campaign for the nomination in the Democratic primary next spring.

State Rep. Morgan Cephas, who represents West Philadelphia, has said she may run. Two lesser-known first-time candidates have also launched campaigns: Robin Toldens, a real estate agent and retired city employee, and David Oxman, an intensive-care physician who lives in Bella Vista.

The Third Congressional District seat, representing about half of Philadelphia, is the most Democratic in the nation and the only majority-Black district in the state. That is likely to prompt a slew of interest from ambitious Democrats, elected and unelected, in the city.

Rabb represents a state House district that is 75% Black and one of the most high-turnout areas in the city, encompassing Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, and West Oak Lane. He is a founding member of the House Progressive Caucus and remains one of the most progressive members in the narrowly Democratic state House. He has authored legislation on environmental justice, economic justice, criminal justice, and racial justice, including reparations through tax credits for Black residents.

He described his campaign as “unapologetically progressive, movement-driven” and said he will reject contributions from corporate PACs.

“We can’t afford more of the same. Our campaign is about disrupting the broken systems that serve entrenched power,” Rabb said.

A former Temple University professor, Rabb graduated from Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Rabb grew up in Chicago, and previously worked in Congress as an aide to then-Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D., Ill.), the first female African American senator. He also worked for the White House Conference on Small Business during the Clinton administration.

Rabb stunned political watchers in the city when in 2017 he beat incumbent Rep. Tonyelle Cook-Artis, who won a special election to fill the seat vacated by Cherelle L. Parker, who at the time left her seat in Harrisburg for Philadelphia City Council.

Cook-Artis had the backing of then-Gov. Tom Wolf, former Gov. Ed Rendell, and then-Mayor Jim Kenney, among others. But Rabb credits his win to aggressive door knocking and campaigning in neighborhoods where the seat had not been seriously challenged since 1983.

He won again in 2018, and then in 2022 found himself at odds with the party again when his district was drawn into the district of fellow Democratic Rep. Isabella Fitzgerald.

Rabb beat Fitzgerald, who was backed by the city’s Democratic Party, and in 2024 he faced no primary challenger.

“He comes from the most vote-rich part of the city, he has never lost a race, and is an organizer at heart,” said Kellan White, a political consultant in Philadelphia who has worked on presidential and mayoral races here. “You know he’s gonna put work in. There’s no question he’d knock on every door.”

But the primary field is likely to grow and other progressive candidates could get into the race, particularly following the surprise success of Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

“If I’m one of the far-left progressives in the city, of course I’m thinking about it,” added White, who is not working for any of the candidates in the contest.

There is less risk to running for Congress for state representatives in Harrisburg, who do not have to resign to run for office, as is required of Philadelphia City Council members.

Pending city legislation could change the “resign to run” law, but it’s unclear if it will get the support it needs to pass in time to appear on the November ballot ahead of the 2026 primary.

In announcing his bid, Rabb touted certain progressive causes that have become mainstream, like fully funding public schools, raising the minimum wage, and taking on predatory utility companies.

In Harrisburg, Rabb introduced legislation creating a statewide police misconduct database that was subsequently approved, and he sponsored bills that would implement restorative justice to offenders in the court system and repeal the death penalty in the state. In 2017, he founded the Pennsylvania Climate Caucus and last year introduced legislation against “greenwashing,” or deceptive marketing that suggests a product is good for the environment. In 2023, he introduced a bill to allow independent voters to cast ballots in Pennsylvania primary elections.

Rabb is a descendant of Black freedom fighters and abolitionists. His maternal grandmother, Madeline Wheeler Murphy, was a Baltimore-based community activist. His great-great-grandfather, John H. Murphy Sr., was born into slavery and founded the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper in 1892.

Staff writer Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.