3rd District candidates rack up high-profile endorsements in the final stretch

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The race for the 3rd Congressional District went into the final stretch with high-profile endorsements and days-long get-out-the-vote activities, leading up to the May 19 primary election.

Four candidates ⸺ Shaun Griffith, Chris Rabb, Dr. Ala Stanford and Sharif Street ⸺ will be featured on the ballot to succeed U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, who has represented the district since 2017.

However, only two of the four candidates received prominent endorsements, which appear to reflect the continuing debate within the Democratic Party, potentially making the primary a litmus test for the party’s future.

Changing the party

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made an appearance in Philly on Friday afternoon to endorse state Rep. Chris Rabb in his bid for the 3rd district.

The New York Democrat has been popular among progressives since being elected to Congress in 2019 and has filled the pews at the Garden of Prayer church in Northwest Philly, showing she has a following throughout the district.

Ocasio-Cortez framed the primary in the nation’s bluest district as a broader fight over the future direction of the party.

“The question here is not whether this community will elect a Democrat, the question is, What kind of Democrat will this community elect, Philadelphia?” Ocasio-Cortez told the audience. “And if you want to change the Democratic party, we’ve got to change the kind of Democrats that get elected and elect Democrats like Rep. Rabb if you want our nation to change.”

Ocasio-Cortez spoke to familiar themes, telling the group that Rabb, as a state representative, never took “money from corporate lobbyists” and that he is “unbought and unbossed.”

Rabb has been endorsed by organizations such as the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Democratic Socialists of America and the Working Families Party.

Street and the establishment

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., also made a trip over the river to stump for state Sen. Street. Booker called Street a fighter appropriate for the current political era, saying he’s “someone that knows what it is to keep fighting even when you’re tired.”

“We have a fight in Washington right now and it’s no time for the timid,” Booker said. “I feel blessed today that I get to stand with a brother that has not just stood with me, but has stood with the people.”

Booker joined prominent locally elected Democrats, including Mayor Cherelle Parker, Pa. Speaker of the House Joanna McClinton, Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, state Sen. Vincent Hughes and Philadelphia Democratic Party Chair Bob Brady at the Church of Christian Compassion in Cobbs Creek.

Booker was twice heckled by audience members who were quickly escorted out before they could make their points, making it unclear what their issues were.

However, Booker has been criticized by progressives for voting against a non-binding budget amendment that would have allowed the importation of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada in 2017, as well as past support for aid to Israel.

Booker did not directly address the interruption, but as the protester was being ushered out, he told the crowds, “I may be from Newark, but I’m at home here in Philly,” to applause.

“I know what it means to fight for what is right,” he said. “And when I’m looking around in this nation, I want a fighter. I want somebody who’s a black version of Rocky Balboa.”

Crisis leadership

Stanford did not appear to have similar visits from outside the district, but she received an endorsement from the Philadelphia Tribune, the oldest continuously published Black newspaper in the United States.

The Tribune pointed to Stanford’s experience mobilizing testing, vaccines and care to underserved communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it showed an “ability to mobilize quickly and meet people where they are.”

“Stanford’s combination of hands-on crisis leadership, federal policy experience and personal connection to the issues facing many residents provides a clear lens through which voters in the 3rd District can assess her candidacy,” the paper stated. “In a race defined by urgent needs across Philadelphia, we believe Dr. Ala Stanford’s blend of frontline leadership, policy experience, and lived understanding of the community distinguishes her candidacy.”

Stanford had earlier been endorsed by the incumbent, Dwight Evans, and area U.S. Reps. Madeleine Dean and Chrissy Houlahan, as well as former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.

Another candidate in the race, Shaun Griffith, also did not issue information about recent campaign activities.

All politics is local

Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District is often described as the Democratic Party’s strongest in the country, meaning the winner of the Democratic primary most likely will go on to win the partisan election in November and, therefore, succeed Evans.

Also, as a result, the candidates have used their respective experience and approaches to the issues to show how they best reflect the interests of voters throughout the district. It has also sparked a debate among at least two candidates over who is more progressive.

For many local activists, such as Reclaim Philly Executive Director Seth Anderson-Oberman, that’s clearly Rabb.

“We are living through a political moment that demands courage and bold action,” Anderson-Oberman said at the Ocasio-Cortez rally. “We need leaders willing to fight for working people, for Black and brown communities being pushed out of the city that we built, for immigrants, for children, the incarcerated, elders and the disabled on a fixed income and everyone that this system has abandoned.”

While at the Booker rally, some Street supporters criticized the far left of the party.

“Every time we’ve seen a homicide take place here in the city of Philadelphia, I’ve never seen a progressive leader show up,” City Council President Johnson told the crowd.

Pa. Speaker McClinton, however, called Street “the real progressive” in the race.

“He’s not just talking a lot, he does a lot,” McClinton said.

During a visit to Malcolm X Park during Saturday’s Malcom X Day celebrations, Street told WHYY News that voters don’t care about the labels, but rather what they see you doing locally.

“They care that you help get a grocery store in their neighborhood. They care that you help fix the school in their community,” Street said. “They know that I’ve done things in their neighborhood in ways that touch them.”