WHYY: Philly progressives taking a victory lap after Rabb win; supporters credit old-school grassroots organizing
WHYY · May 20, 2026 · By Carmen Russell-Sluchansky
WHYY asks how the win actually happened and gets an answer about doors. Philadelphia DSA alone fielded 40 field leads who trained hundreds of canvassers every weekend, supplemented by the Working Families Party, One Pennsylvania and Reclaim Philadelphia. "We had armies of volunteers knocking doors, people who are deeply rooted in our community," organizer Patrick Wargo told WHYY. The story also credits years of quieter work before Rabb was a candidate: the open-wards effort that culminated in November with Wards That Work, a coalition of Philadelphia DSA, Riverwards Area Democrats, Reclaim Philadelphia and the Philadelphia chapter of the Communist Party USA, which recruited more than 350 committee candidates for the same ballot.