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For nearly a decade, U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans has represented much of West and Northwest Philadelphia, focusing on securing federal funding for neighborhood projects, expanding economic opportunities and helping constituents navigate government services. Now, after more than four decades in elected office, Evans is preparing to retire, leaving behind a congressional seat and relationships built over years of representing Philadelphia communities.
State Rep. Chris Rabb, who won the Democratic primary race to replace Evans in the U.S. House of Representatives this May, has presented a different political approach. A democratic socialist backed by grassroots progressive organizations, Rabb campaigned on ambitious proposals, including Medicare for All, affordable housing and challenging the Democratic Party establishment. While Evans has emphasized delivering resources through established political relationships, Rabb has made confronting entrenched political power central to his campaign.
Rabb has no Republican challenger in the Nov. 3 general election; his only competition is Independent Party candidate Dennis Mahoney.
Rabb wouldnât be alone as a democratic socialist in Congress; his 3rd District primary win comes in a year when seven candidates with ties to the Democratic Socialists of America won Democratic primaries â including two candidates for Congress in New York. Notably, U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, both DSA members, endorsed Rabbâs congressional campaign, as did the organizationâs Philadelphia chapter.
While Rabbâs victory points to a national trend of success among more progressive, DSA candidates, public affairs executive Larry Ceisler said Rabbâs constituents will want a representative focused on domestic issues.
âThey want a workhorse and not a show horse,â Ceisler said. âThey want somebody whoâs going to be accessible and whoâs going to be focused on the problems that they face every day, and not necessarily on macro problems of the world. I donât think they care about impeaching (President Donald) Trump. I think they care about their day-to-day lives.â
Demographics in the district
More than half of Pennsylvaniaâs 3rd Congressional District, with roughly 768,000 residents, are Black, and nearly 1 in 5 lives below the poverty line, compared with about 12% statewide.Â
Federal agencies committed about $2.2 billion in grants, contracts and other awards for work in the 3rd Congressional District in the 2026 fiscal year, ranking 15th among Pennsylvaniaâs 17 congressional districts. While those figures reflect where federal spending is recorded rather than how much money a representative personally secures, Evans made bringing federal resources to Philadelphia a priority during his tenure. In February, he announced $7.4 million in federal funding for eight community projects, including improvements to local schools and health care education facilities. In the 2024 fiscal year, he secured $13.3 million for 15 projects aimed at expanding affordable housing, supporting small businesses and improving pedestrian safety.Â
The districtâs median household income is roughly $65,000 â about $12,000 below Pennsylvaniaâs average, according to 2024 U.S. Census estimates.
Affordability and housing needs
Those economic pressures make affordability, housing and access to federal resources particularly consequential as residents consider what they want from their next representative.
âThe biggest thing right now is that housing values are lapping wages,â said Lorissa Luciani, executive director of the Womenâs Community Revitalization Project, a women-led nonprofit community development organization.
Housing costs in Philadelphia have risen much faster than incomes. A 2024 study from the Pew Research Center found that between 2000 and 2021, monthly mortgage costs for a starter home rose 55%, while household incomes increased just 10%, after adjusting for inflation.
âWhat we hope for for Rabb is to expand those resources to address those with greatest need,â said Luciani.Â
Specifically, Luciani said she wanted Rabb to push for repealing the Faircloth Amendment, which caps public housing opportunities. She also wants Rabb to ensure the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act â which aims to expand affordable housing, encourage homeownership and limit large investors from buying up single-family homes â is fully implemented.
âCongress moves at a glacial rate, so if things are stalled legislatively, we have to be creative,â said Rabb to Billy Penn. He acknowledged that major housing legislation might not pass during his first term, but said he would look to federal earmarks and grants to bring money into the district in the meantime.
In Northwest Philadelphia, Leo Dillinger IV, executive director of Germantown United CDC, called affordability a âcrisisâ and said further investment in the Germantown Avenue commercial corridor could help prevent displacement.
âAs long as heâs staying engaged with the community and working with us, I think weâll be OK,â Dillinger said. âThatâs all weâre looking for is someone whoâs responsive and not just responsive and reactive, but proactive, too.âÂ
Strong community relationships
Hearing the concerns of people like Luciani and Dillinger will require relationship building, communication and, of course, time â all of which can be limited for a freshman member of Congress. For longtime community leaders who have spent years working with Evans, having to rebuild those relationships from scratch is another concern.
Rabb said heâd already begun building relationships with constituents in his time as a state representative. In October, Rabb held four listening sessions across the 3rd District that he said took place in the areas where he had the least name recognition.
Looking forward to his first year in Congress, Rabb said he hopes to âearn a reputation for providing high-quality constituent services, for being accountable and highly visible across the district.
âThat I have followed up with intentionality and care around the things that got me elected, and then Iâve become a strong voice and public advocate for not just my district, but for other communities that struggle across the country.â
Della Clark, president and CEO of West Philadelphiaâs Enterprise Center, has spent more than three decades helping small businesses, particularly minority-owned enterprises, access funding and economic opportunities. She credits Evans with helping the organization secure federal investments, including $1 million for its 52nd Street revitalization initiative.Â
âHaving to start over and build trust and relationships with leaders is very difficult,â Clark said. âIâd like to make Philadelphia the premier city for small business capital. So, if I had a chance to meet with Rabb, Iâd want to see how he can use his influence in Washington to help make that happen.â
She pointed to investment in those small businesses as a way Rabb could support them, but said her expectations for his first year were modest.
âHeâs going to be a first-time congressman, so it might take him a year to learn the ropes of Washington,â Clark said. âSo my expectation is after year one, how has he grasped Washington? What has he learned? And not necessarily what he has accomplished.â
Going to Washington
Rabb wonât arrive in Washington without established relationships. He previously worked on legislation with current U.S. Reps. Summer Lee and Madeleine Dean during their overlapping tenures in the Pennsylvania House. Lee, who helped campaign for Rabb in Philadelphia, co-sponsored tax reform legislation with him in 2022. Ceisler said Rabb may have to lean on those relationships to find success.
âHe also has to get along in Washington,â Ceisler said. âHe has to make alliances. Rabb is very smart, very articulate, very energetic. Heâs not going to be alone.â
When asked by Billy Penn if heâd bend on challenging establishment politics to secure benefits for his district, Rabb pointed to his past as a state representative where he said heâs already had to negotiate with and compromise for those who embrace establishment politics.
âI canât imagine anyone whoâs gone into elective office and not known how to compromise,â Rabb said. âThe question is: Can you compromise without compromising your values?â
Ceisler said Hakeem Jeffries, who could become speaker of the House of Representatives if Democrats succeed in the midterms, will be responsible for uniting Rabb and his colleagues. If Democrats capture a majority in the House, as Ceisler predicts, he said that may come with a challenge for Rabb.
âHeâll be in the majority. Whatever happens in Congress heâll get to take credit for or heâll be blamed for,â Ceisler said. âWhen youâre in a two-year term, you are always in a campaign. And my guess is there are people who are lining up to run against Chris in two years if, for some reason, he falters in any way.âÂ
Though Rabbâs potential November win would come with all the glamour of Washington. Yet, his responsibilities would remain in Pennsylvania and to the residents of much of Philadelphia, like George McClung, a veterinarian in his 30s who lives in West Philadelphia with his wife.
McClung said he wasnât familiar with Rabb but said he looked for candidates with grassroots campaigns that didnât take money from PACs. In West Philly, he said he sees issues of gentrification and income divides.Â
âHousing everywhere is kind of blowing up in cost,â McClung said. âNeighborhoods that never had names, suddenly Realtors will name them something like âSquirrel Hill,â and now itâs an expensive place to live.âÂ
The rising housing costs and economic challenges facing McClung and other residents wonât have an immediate fix. But if Rabb wins the general election, heâll begin his first term in Congress on Jan. 3, 2027, with the opportunity to start addressing those concerns and the task of building on the relationships Evans leaves behind.