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Pennsylvania Primary Results: Philadelphia Voters Could Send the Next Squad Member to Congress

Progressives including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez united around Chris Rabb in the tight four-way race.

Akela Lacy, Jessica Washington

May 19 2026, 8:22 p.m.

State Representative Chris Rabb, a Democrat from Pennsylvania and US Congressional candidate, arrives for a campaign event ahead of a primary election at Garden of Prayer World Prayer Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, on Friday, May 15, 2026. Pennsylvania will hold a primary election on May 19. Photographer: Joe Lamberti/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb at a campaign event with AOC at Garden of Prayer World Prayer Center in Philadelphia on May 15, 2026. Photo: Joe Lamberti/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Democratic Party’s left flank is hoping to add to its ranks in Congress in Philadelphia on Tuesday in what’s been viewed as a contest between the party’s moderate and progressive wings.

Progressives coalesced around state Rep. Chris Rabb in the tight four-way race to replace retiring Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Pa. Limited polling has shown the race at times led by state Sen. Sharif Street, a middle-of-the-road Democrat who was formerly the chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, or by Dr. Ala Stanford, a pediatric surgeon backed by a pro-Israel super PAC that sponsored the April poll showing her in the lead. Also on the ballot is Shaun Griffith, an attorney who has yet to break through in the polls.

Stanford was in the lead with just shy of a quarter of the results in not long after polls closed Tuesday night.

Whoever wins the Democratic primary is heavily favored to win in November in the deep blue 3rd Congressional District.

The race has unfolded along some of the same fault lines animating the broader Democratic Party — from the influence of special interest groups to the genocide in Gaza. Rabb, who has been a vocal critic of U.S. military support for Israel, has attracted a slew of endorsements from progressive members of Congress like Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who rallied alongside him in the final days before the election. Street, meanwhile, earned the support of Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who joined a get-out-the-vote event for him on Monday that was reportedly sparsely attended.

Rabb has collected endorsements from 10 members of Congress, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and progressive groups including the Pennsylvania Working Families Party, the Philadelphia chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, Justice Democrats, and Jewish Voice for Peace Action.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, considered one of the Democratic Party’s moderate rising stars, waded into the race in its final weeks to try to stop a powerful Philadelphia union backing Street from inadvertently boosting Rabb’s campaign with attack ads against Stanford, Axios reported.

Street has endorsements from the Muslim League of Voters; dozens of local unions including the Philadelphia Building Trades, the Communication Workers of America Local 13000 and the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO; and a slew of other elected officials and advocacy groups.

This is a developing story and will be updated.