Now that the dust has settled following Pennsylvania’s 2026 primary elections, progressives picked up major victories up and down the ballot Tuesday night.
The Working Families Party (WFP), the progressive-leaning third party that supports progressive Democrats running for office, won six out of six races they targeted in Democratic primaries across the commonwealth, with Bob Brooks’ and State Rep. Chris Rabb’s congressional primary victories at the top of their list.
“At a time when national politics can feel like a moment of darkness, what progressives are building in Philadelphia is special,” Philadelphia City Councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke, both of whom are co-chairs of the Pennsylvania Working Families Party, said in a statement following Rabb’s victory.
They added: “We’ve won local and state-level races, we’ve won legislation that will materially impact the lives of working people, and now we’re sending one of our own to Congress.”
At the state level, WFP cleaned up the Pennsylvania House races they targeted.
In Philadelphia, Sierra McNeil, who has a background in social work and advocacy, defeated State Rep. Keith Harris (D-Philadelphia), who was first elected to the state House in a special election. WFP also backed Chris Johnson, an education advocate and staffer for the School District of Philadelphia, who won the open seat vacated by Rabb.
In the Lehigh Valley, the WFP-backed Ce-Ce Gerlach defeated State Rep. Ana Tiburcio (D-Lehigh), who was sworn into office this past March after winning a special election to fill a seat that was vacated by Lehigh County Executive Josh Seigel.
Finally, in Allegheny County, Brittany Bloam, a Pittsburgh-based attorney, withstood attacks from a conservative-leaning Democrat and won her primary to fill outgoing State Rep. Antia Kulik’s seat.
“ The status quo is a sinking ship. People are looking for something better. People are ready for bold leadership that actually has courage and stands for people, and isn’t out here just doing the bidding and the work of the same old corporate special interests,” US Rep. Summer Lee (D-Allegheny) told The Keystone while attending Rabb’s victory party.
She added: “ This isn’t the story of one person. It’s not the story of one organization. It’s the story of what happens when the left comes together, and what happens when we build a multiracial and multigenerational movement that meets the moment, and that’s what we saw here today.”
