After a staffer allegedly took $161K, Chris Rabb rebounds to lead fundraising in Philly’s congressional race

In the first three months of 2026, State Rep. Chris Rabb raised nearly twice as much as his opponents in Philadelphia’s open congressional race, a significant rebound for his campaign after he said his former treasurer last year made about $161,000 in unauthorized withdrawals before he reported her to authorities, according to new campaign finance filings.

Despite Rabb’s $385,000 fundraising haul, physician Ala Stanford entered the homestretch of the Democratic primary race for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District with the most money in the bank — about $450,000 as of April 1.

“We enter the close of this race leading with cash on hand and incredible momentum because Philadelphians are craving new leadership, not the politics of yesterday,” Stanford’s campaign manager, Janeé Taft-Mack, said in a statement.

State Sen. Sharif Street’s campaign, which at the start of the year led the pack in fundraising, spent $462,000 during the first quarter of the year, the highest level of expenditures in the field.

The fourth candidate on the Democratic ballot, tax adviser Shaun Griffith, raised about $9,000, spent $3,700, and had just over $10,000 in the bank as of April 1.

The latest campaign finance reports, which were due Wednesday, covered the period of Jan. 1 through March 31, and provided a snapshot of the highly competitive race for the seat that is being vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans.

With about a month to go, the race appears to be wide open for the three top contenders, each of whom has a viable path to victory.

Street has continued to rack up endorsements from important figures in the city’s Democratic establishment. Rabb has largely consolidated support among local progressive groups. And Stanford, a first-time candidate and the only contender who has been featured in TV ads so far, has made strides in increasing her name recognition among voters.

» READ MORE: Meet the 4 Democrats vying to replace Dwight Evans in Congress

The 3rd Congressional District covers about half of Philadelphia and is one of the most Democratic seats in the nation. The primary election, which is likely to be decisive as no Republican has filed to run, is May 19.

Rabb’s new campaign finance reports offer the first glimpse into the depth of the “unauthorized withdrawals” allegedly made by Yolanda Brown, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based campaign consultant who has been accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from other Democrats and social-justice groups over the last decade.

In February, Rabb said that his campaign had fired Brown for making the withdrawals, but he did not reveal the amount of money, citing a pending review.

According to the reports filed Thursday, there were 40 separate transactions that went to an account controlled by Brown between August and December. The disbursements ranged in size from $12 to $26,500, and they totaled $160,825.

The paperwork showed that Rabb’s campaign was at one point dangerously close to running out of cash. An amended report showed that his account had about $26,500 at the end of December. (A previous report that did not account for the unauthorized transactions showed that he had nearly $100,000 in the bank at that time.)

» READ MORE: From Florida to Philly, a political consultant kept working as fraud claims piled up against her

Alon Gur, Rabb’s campaign manager, said in a statement that the campaign is “continuing to provide transparency after contacting the appropriate authorities and publicly disclosing what our previous treasurer did.”

Brown’s Florida-based criminal defense attorney, Khambrel Davis, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. He previously told The Inquirer that Brown was the victim of a rogue employee at her firm who had stolen money from multiple political action committees and then disappeared “in the wind.”

In January, officials who lead a PAC affiliated with St. Petersburg, Fla., Mayor Ken Welch, a Democrat, accused Brown of stealing $207,000 from their account.

And in 2024, Brown pleaded no contest to an embezzlement charge in California after being accused of taking out unauthorized loans in the name of a consultancy where she had previously been employed.

Street, who had raised the most money among the contenders heading into 2026, took in $199,000 in the first quarter of the year and had $263,000 on hand as of April 1.

“We were fortunate enough to have so much early support that we have been able to make smart investments in advance of Election Day,” Street spokesperson Anthony Campisi said.

Stanford, a pediatric surgeon who gained national recognition for founding the Black Doctors Consortium to provide testing and vaccination to underserved communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, raised $211,000 in the first three months of the year and spent $153,000.

Stanford last year lent her campaign $250,000 out of her own pocket, helping to boost her field-leading $450,000 in cash on hand.

Rabb’s campaign spent $183,000 during the latest reporting period and had $236,000 in the bank, leaving him in a competitive position with just over a month to go in the race despite the alleged misappropriation of his campaign funds last year.

Rabb raised $77,000 from small-dollar donors during the reporting period, while Street and Stanford took in less than $15,000 each, according to an Inquirer analysis.

“This campaign is rapidly gaining momentum, strong grassroots support — and a clear path to victory on May 19,” Gur said, emphasizing Rabb’s small-dollar and local fundraising as a sign of grassroots voter support. “This is what a people-powered movement looks like. … Tough times pass; strong people last.”

Rabb’s fundraising surge in recent months came from both large and small donations — reflecting support from the kinds of wealthier individuals who have lifted up his competitors’ campaigns and from donors who sometimes represent wider grassroots support.

About a fifth of his donations were from individuals who gave less than $200, compared with just 8% for Street and 7% for Stanford.

In a twist from the beginning of the campaign, Rabb also outpaced Street and Stanford among larger donors.

He raised more than $287,000 from that wealthier donor class, including more than 800 donations of at least $1,000. Maximum $3,500 donations came from Ben Cohen, the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cofounder who endorsed Rabb in February; Charles Stewart, the CEO of Sotheby’s luxury auction house; and Regan Pritzker, a philanthropist and investor who is a member of the wealthy Pritzker family.

Stanford — whose $186,000 from larger donors included more than 300 donations of at least $1,000 — has built her campaign war chest with contributions from a long list of physicians, surgeons, and other medical professionals from around the country after a long career in the field.

Among her major donors without healthcare backgrounds were Peter Ciarrocchi, the CEO of Chickie’s & Pete’s, and Julius Tennon, an actor and producer who is married to actor Viola Davis.

» READ MORE: Ala Stanford is banking on a healthcare message to break through crowded Philly primary for Congress

Even with the backing of the city’s Democratic establishment, Street pulled in fewer larger donations than his competitors in the quarter — 260 donations of at least $1,000, and $161,000 overall.

He collected bigger checks in recent months from several Philadelphia-based executives — including multiple at Parkway Corp., a real estate and parking developer — as well as Bart Blatstein, a developer and CEO of Tower Investments, and Joseph Cacchione, CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health.

Additional large donations are likely on the way for Street.

After a fundraiser in Washington this week, Street said in an interview that he was confident about having sufficient resources in the final stretch of the campaign. He did not say how much the fundraiser — hosted by Justin Gray, the head of a business advisory firm and son of former Philadelphia U.S. Rep. William H. Gray III — pulled in, though he called it a “good day.”

The reports filed by candidates’ campaigns tell only part of the story when it comes to the money pouring into the Philly congressional race.

Stanford has benefited from more than $2 million in spending by the 314 Action Fund, a super PAC that helps elect doctors to public office, and for weeks has been the only candidate in the race airing television ads. The group has paid for TV ads supporting Stanford and a poll that showed her leading the race.

EMILY’s List, a national group that raises money for Democratic women running for office, endorsed Stanford on Thursday. Stanford will be the only woman on the 3rd District ballot after State Rep. Morgan Cephas exited the race in late March.

EMILY’s List president Jessica Mackler said in a statement that Stanford has “delivered real results for Philadelphia families, expanding health care access and fighting for underserved communities.”

Street, meanwhile, is poised to get an additional boost from his endorsement from the politically powerful Philadelphia building trades unions, which have already donated tens of thousands of dollars to his campaign and are likely to fund an outside spending effort as well.

Ryan Boyer Jr., whose father, Ryan Boyer, leads the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, recently registered a new federal PAC. The group has not yet bought ads.

Sam Staten Jr., a Boyer ally and business manager of the Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 332, said Wednesday that he is confident Street will prevail.

“It’s gonna happen. I don’t see it being close,” Staten told Street at an event in which Mayor Cherelle L. Parker endorsed Street, the favorite candidate of Philadelphia’s Democratic Party and many of the elected officials aligned with the city’s political establishment.

Rabb, who has vowed not to accept donations from PACs funded by corporate interests, also appears to still be hoping for outside help from groups aligned with the progressive movement. His campaign website includes a so-called red box containing voter-targeting information that a super PAC could use to aid his campaign. Street’s website has a similar feature.

» READ MORE: How two Philly congressional candidates are quietly guiding super PACs in plain sight

Rabb has been endorsed by the Working Families Party and Justice Democrats, left-leaning groups that have spent big to boost progressives in other elections.

This week, the political action committee of the Congressional Progressive Caucus also endorsed him. The group’s cochairs praised Rabb as a “social justice activist … who has taken on Republicans and the billionaire class to create a democracy that works for everyone.”

More on the 3rd Congressional District race

• Philly’s three-way fight to replace Dwight Evans in the U.S. House enters a volatile final stretch

• Meet the Democrats vying to replace Dwight Evans in Congress

• Philly’s competitive U.S. House race narrows — but big questions loom

• Sharif Street could become Pa.’s first Muslim member of Congress. But don’t make assumptions about his politics.

• Chris Rabb is trying to be the left’s standard-bearer as he runs for Congress. Will progressives rally around him?

• Ala Stanford is banking on a healthcare message to break through crowded Philly primary for Congress

• Here’s who is funding Philly’s crowded race for Congress

• Ala Stanford and Chris Rabb are trading accusations as AIPAC becomes a flash point in Philly’s U.S. House race