(The Center Square) – State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Philadelphia, won the Democratic Party nomination for the 3rd U.S. House District.
The Associated Press called the race at 10:42 PM on Tuesday night. With 92% of the vote reported, as of Wednesday morning, Rabb received 44% of the vote in the four-candidate race for the Philadelphia-based seat.
The 3rd U.S. House District was the lone open congressional seat on the ballot in Pennsylvania for the 2026 primary election.
U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia, announced in June that he would retire at the end of his current term. Evans, whose career in elected office spans several decades in Pennsylvania, was first elected to the U.S. House in 2016 after defeating the indicted incumbent, Congressman Chaka Fattah, in the Democratic primary.
The race to succeed Evans began as a crowded one. As the campaign progressed, four candidates, all Democrats, formally filed to appear on the primary ballot for the bluest congressional seat in the nation.
Those candidates were Rabb, state Sen. Sharif Street, Dr. Ala Stanford, and Shaun Griffith.
As of Wednesday morning, Street was in second place with 29.5% of the vote, followed by Stanford with 24.1%, and Griffith tallying 2.1%.
The race brought different factions of the Democratic Party into focus.
Rabb, who identifies as a Democratic Socialist, was viewed as the most progressive candidate in the race. He received the endorsements of U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Summer Lee, the Working Families Party, the Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board, and other progressive organizations and lawmakers.
Street, former chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and son of former Philadelphia Mayor John Street, was supported by the Philadelphia Democratic Party, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, former Gov. Ed Rendell, and a wide variety of local labor unions.
Stanford, founder of the Black Doctors Consortium, had earned the support of Evans, U.S. Reps. Madeleine Dean and Chrissy Houlahan, Emily’s List, an organization dedicated to electing Democratic pro-choice women to office, and 314 Action, a group that helps Democrats with a background in science to public office.
Street raised the most throughout the entirety of the election cycle, however, Rabb’s campaign raised the most from January through April 29, according to the final campaign finance report made available prior to the primary election.
Leading up to Tuesday, independent polls weren’t conducted for the race, although some internal surveys showed the potential for a close race.
While Gov. Josh Shapiro endorsed candidates in four congressional districts in Pennsylvania, he did not formally weigh in with an endorsement in this race.
“Look, the voters will choose, and there’s no Republican on the ballot, so whoever wins this primary will be the next congressman,” Shapiro told reporters on Tuesday morning. “I’ll look forward to working with him or her.”
“I’ve worked with all of them. I think well of all of them,” Shapiro said in response to a different question about the race. “And ultimately, the voters will decide who to choose. And again, that’s not one of the contested races this November.”
“My focus is on defeating the Republicans in those races this fall and winning a majority in the U.S. House,” he added, referencing the expected competitive races for Pennsylvania’s 1st, 7th, 8th, and 10th Congressional Districts.
Following Rabb’s victory, he’s widely expected to become the next member of Congress, given the Democratic majority in the district.
