Chris Rabb

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chris Rabb
Chris Rabb, James L. Knight Foundation.jpg
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 200th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2017[1]
Preceded byTonyelle Cook-Artis
Personal details
Born (1970-02-21) February 21, 1970 (age 51)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Children2
Parent(s)Maurice Rabb Jr., Madeline Murphy Rabb
RelativesBilly Murphy Jr. (uncle), Madeline Wheeler Murphy (grandmother), John H. Murphy Sr. (great-great-grandfather)
ResidenceEast Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Alma materYale University (B.A.)
University of Pennsylvania (M.S.)
Occupationpolitician, professor, author
Websitehttps://www.chrisrabb.com/

Christopher M. Rabb (born February 21, 1970) is an American politician, professor, and author. A Democrat, he is a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 200th District since 2017. In a heavily Democratic district where winning the primary is tantamount to winning the election, he defeated the incumbent, who had the support of the Democratic establishment, in 2016.[2]

Early life and education[]

Rabb was born in Chicago, to an ophthalmologist and professor father, Maurice Rabb Jr., and a politically active mother, Madeline Murphy Rabb.[3][4] His maternal grandmother Madeline Wheeler Murphy, was a Baltimore-based community activist, and his maternal grandfather, William H. Murphy Sr, was a judge in Baltimore[5] Rabb's great-great-grandfather, John H. Murphy Sr., was born a slave and founded the Baltimore Afro-American in 1892.[3] Shortly after beginning his undergraduate education at Yale in 1988, Rabb was instrumental in the removal of an image of a shackled slave from the common room of Calhoun College (named after alumnus John C. Calhoun), in the process Rabb also learned he was a descendant of Philip Livingston.[6] Rabb received his bachelor's degree from Yale in 1992.[6] Rabb got a master's degree in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006.[7]

Career[]

In the early 90s Rabb worked as an aide to former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun.[3] He then worked for the Clinton administration in the 1995 White House Conference on Small Business.[3] Since moving to Philadelphia to obtain his master's at Penn, he has taught a business course at Temple University.[3] He published the non-fiction book Invisible Capital: How Unseen Forces Shape Entrepreneurial Opportunity in 2010.[3]

Pennsylvania House of Representatives[]

In 2016, Rabb defeated the incumbent Tonyelle Cook-Artis in a three-way Democratic primary 47% to 40%, and then defeated Republican challenger Latryse McDowell 94% to 5% in the November general election.[8] He won the 2018 primary over challenger Melissa Scott 52%-48%, and has run opposed since.[9]

Vasectomy memo[]

On October 2, 2021, Rabb authored a memo to all members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives indicating that he will be introducing legislation to enforce reproductive responsibility among men. According to the memo, the proposal would "require all inseminators to undergo vasectomies within 6 weeks from having their third child or 40th birthday, whichever comes first." Rabb's satirical[10] memo draws attention to the double-standard of regulating women's bodies via legislation while the equivalent bill affecting cisgender men would seem absurd.[11][12] Rabb called the memo "parody legislation".[12]

Committees[]

  • Agriculture & Rural Affairs, Democratic Vice Chair
  • Commerce, Subcommittee on Financial Services and Banking - Democratic Chair
  • Finance, Democratic Secretary
  • Judiciary

Personal life[]

Rabb has two sons and lives in East Mount Airy.[3]

Published works[]

  • Invisible Capital: How Unseen Forces Shape Entrepreneurial Opportunity (2010) ISBN 9781605093079

References[]

  1. ^ "House Session Days". Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  2. ^ Holly Otterbein (19 May 2016). "The Incredible Political Insurgency of Chris Rabb". Philadelphia Magazine.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Baer, John. "Meet new Philly State Rep. Chris Rabb". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  4. ^ "Biography". September 27, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.
  5. ^ "The Honorable William H. Murphy, Sr.'s Biography". The HistoryMakers.
  6. ^ a b Carole Bass (19 March 2014). "What's in a name? Looking for answers at Calhoun College". Yale Alumni Magazine.
  7. ^ "Vote Smart". Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Pennsylvania Elections - Summary Results". electionreturns.pa.gov.
  9. ^ "Pennsylvania Elections - Office Results". www.electionreturns.pa.gov.
  10. ^ Sadeghi, McKenzie (October 7, 2021). "Fact check: Pennsylvania bill proposing restrictions on male reproductive rights is satirical". USA Today. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  11. ^ "House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda". The official website for the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  12. ^ a b "3 Child Limit Bill Proposed in PA; Would Mandate Vasectomies". MSN. Retrieved 5 October 2021.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""