Chris Rabb | BernieCrats.com

Biography

Christopher M. Rabb was born on February 21, 1970, in Chicago, into a family with deep roots in civil rights activism. His father, Dr. Maurice Rabb Jr., was a pioneering ophthalmologist; his great-great-grandfather John H. Murphy Sr. was the founder of the Afro-American newspaper. Rabb grew up steeped in a tradition of Black intellectual leadership and public service. He earned his BA from Yale University and an MS in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Before entering politics, Rabb founded Afro-Netizen in 1999, a pioneering email-based news platform for the African diaspora, and later ran a nonprofit business incubator in Philadelphia. He worked as a professor and author, writing about entrepreneurship, race, and civic engagement. He directed the Pratt Center for Community Development and the Fifth Avenue Committee. He also served in the U.S. Senate and the White House Conference on Small Business in the early 1990s.

Rabb was first elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2016 — defeating an establishment-backed opponent in Northwest Philadelphia in what state Sen. Nikil Saval called a landmark moment that proved Philadelphia's Democratic machine could be beaten 'through disciplined organizing and sheer principle and moral fervor.' He served five terms, building a reputation as an outspoken advocate for racial justice, economic equity, public education, Palestinian rights, and clean energy. He fought across the aisle against the death penalty.

He is 56, has two children, and his former spouse is Imani Perry, a MacArthur Fellow and Harvard professor. The 3rd Congressional District — covering West Philadelphia, most of Center City, and North Philadelphia — is the most reliably Democratic district in the country. No Republican filed for the general election, making Rabb's primary win effectively his election to Congress.

2026 House Campaign

Rabb entered the race to succeed retiring Rep. Dwight Evans in Pennsylvania's 3rd Congressional District, one of the most competitive and watched primaries in the 2026 cycle. Running against establishment-backed opponents — including former state Democratic Party chair Sharif Street and Biden administration official Ala Stanford — Rabb assembled a progressive coalition backed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Justice Democrats, the Philadelphia DSA, and the Working Families Party.

He won the May 19, 2026 primary with 44% of the vote in a four-way race, defeating Street (30%) and Stanford (24%) decisively. With no Republican filing for the general election, Rabb is effectively the next congressman for the district. He is expected to join the Squad in Washington.

'I'm running because we're ready for a movement-aligned approach to governance, not another establishment ally,' Rabb said. His platform centers on housing as a human right, Medicare for All, expanding democracy, strengthening workers' rights, confronting concentrated wealth, and restricting immigration enforcement. He was endorsed by the Philadelphia Inquirer, which praised him for 'always relying on persuading voters' rather than machine politics.