Chris Rabb
American politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christopher M. Rabb (born February 21, 1970) is an American politician, professor, and author. A Democrat, he is a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 200th District since 2017. He is the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania's 3rd congressional district after winning the 2026 Democratic primary.
affiliations
Democratic Socialists of America
Chris Rabb | |
|---|---|
Rabb in 2023 | |
| Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 200th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Tonyelle Cook-Artis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 21, 1970 |
| Party | Democratic |
Other political affiliations | Working Families Democratic Socialists of America |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Maurice Rabb Jr. (father) Billy Murphy Jr. (uncle) Madeline Wheeler Murphy (grandmother) John H. Murphy Sr. (great-great-grandfather) |
| Education | Yale University (BA) University of Pennsylvania (MS) |
| Website | Campaign website |
Early life and education
Rabb was born in Chicago, to an ophthalmologist and professor father, Maurice Rabb Jr., and a politically active mother, Madeline Murphy Rabb.[1][2] His maternal grandmother Madeline Wheeler Murphy, was a Baltimore-based community activist, and his maternal grandfather, William H. Murphy Sr, was a judge in Baltimore[3] Rabb's great-great-grandfather, John H. Murphy Sr., was born a slave and founded the Baltimore Afro-American in 1892.[1]
Shortly after beginning his undergraduate education at Yale in 1988, Rabb was instrumental in the removal of an image of a shackled slave from the common room of Calhoun College (named after alumnus John C. Calhoun). In the process Rabb also learned he was a descendant of Philip Livingston.[4] Rabb received his bachelor's degree from Yale in 1992.[4] Rabb got a master's degree in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006.[5]
Career
In the early 1990s, Rabb worked as an aide to U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun.[1] He then worked for the Clinton administration in the 1995 White House Conference on Small Business.[1] Since moving to Philadelphia to obtain his master's at Penn, he has taught a business course at Temple University.[1] He published the non-fiction book Invisible Capital: How Unseen Forces Shape Entrepreneurial Opportunity in 2010.[1]
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
In 2016, Rabb defeated the incumbent state representative Tonyelle Cook-Artis, who was supported by the Pennsylvania Democratic establishment,[6] in a three-way Democratic primary 47% to 40%, and then defeated Republican challenger Latryse McDowell 94% to 5% in the November general election.[6][7] He won the 2018 primary over establishment-backed challenger Melissa Scott 52% to 48%,[8] and has since run unopposed in 2020 and 2024.[9]
Rabb has been a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 200th District, since 2017.[10] Rabb serves on a number of House Committees, including Agriculture & Rural Affairs,[11] Commerce,[12] and the Judiciary.[13][14] Rabb has put forward bills that would enable courts in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to use restorative justice approaches to sentencing offenders,[13][15] and introduced and passed bills in the Pennsylvania House to repeal the use of the death penalty (House Bill 999).[14]
In 2017, Rabb helped to found the Pennsylvania Climate Caucus.[16][17] In 2024, Rabb introduced legislation to counter greenwashing, which is deceptive marketing that incorrectly suggests that a product is beneficial to the environment. According to the Center for Climate Integrity, the bill is the first of its type in the nation.[18][19][20]
On October 2, 2021, Rabb authored a memo to all members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives indicating that he will be introducing legislation to enforce reproductive responsibility among men. According to the memo, the proposal would "require all inseminators to undergo vasectomies within six weeks from having their third child or 40th birthday, whichever comes first." Rabb's satirical[21] memo was intended to draw attention to the double-standard of regulating women's bodies via legislation while the equivalent bill affecting men would seem absurd.[22][23] Rabb called the memo "parody legislation".[23]
In 2023, Rabb introduced bills to allow independent voters to vote in Pennsylvania primary elections (HB 979)[24] and to provide protections for cannabis consumers and businesses.[25]
2026 U.S. House of Representatives campaign
In 2025, Rabb entered the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania's 3rd congressional district to succeed Congressman Dwight Evans after he announced his retirement.[26] Rabb has been endorsed by numerous progressive organizations and politicians, including the Justice Democrats,[27] Sunrise Movement,[28] Democratic Socialists of America (both the Philadelphia Democratic Socialists of America and the national organization),[29][30] Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,[31] and the Working Families Party.[27] He joined the Democratic Socialists of America in 2026, but stated in an interview with Jacobin that he has identified as a democratic socialist for longer.[29]
Rabb won the Democratic primary on May 19, 2026, defeating his opponents Sharif Street, Ala Stanford, and Shaun Griffith with 44% of the vote.[32]
Personal life
Rabb has two sons and lives in East Mount Airy.[1] He is divorced from the scholar Imani Perry.[33][34][35]
Awards
- 2019, Rising Environmental Leader award, The National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCEL)[16]
Published works
- Invisible Capital: How Unseen Forces Shape Entrepreneurial Opportunity (2010) ISBN 9781605093079