Where each Pa. 3rd Congressional District Democratic candidate stands on affordability

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]Well, next Tuesday Democrats across parts of the city will choose who they think should replace retiring Congressman Dwight Evans.

[00:00:06]>> Well, the field has narrowed now to four candidates, tax attorney Shawn Griffith, state representative Chris Rabb, Dr. Ala Stanford, and state senator Sharif Street. Our Dan Snyder spoke with all four candidates this week and shows us how each is looking at one major issue, affordability.

[00:00:25]It's probably the biggest issue for voters across the country. How are my elected officials working to make my life more affordable? I asked each candidate for a specific idea they had to bring the cost of living down for you. State Senator Sharif Street discussed utility and health care costs.

[00:00:41]I've introduced a clean energy bill, clean energy portfolio standards bill, that would increase the availability of that would help reduce the price of energy for people. They want us to address that. So, guess what? If I'm doing something and your utility bills are lower, they care about that. People want to know, what are you going to do to make sure I got I can afford my health care? Penny, brought down the cost of health insurance. That was something I did at the state level. We restored those tax credits. It will bring down the cost of health care for everyone.

[00:01:08]>> Street's energy standards bill remains in committee in Harrisburg. Dr. Ala Stanford says her first target would be the war in Iran.

[00:01:15]>> You have to vote against what Trump is doing with this war. We must. $1.4 billion a day would allow us to fund kids' food, breakfast and lunch in school. It would allow us to deal with the food deserts that exist right here in the city where you can't get a good grocery store. It would allow us to deal with the poor air quality that exists.

[00:01:44]While Stanford believes ending the war will have a trickle-down effect on everyday prices, it's unclear if that money would flow into programs like this. Shawn Griffith wants lawmakers on the record when it comes to health care.

[00:01:54]I would withhold my vote for speaker until there is a vote on the floor for universal health care either the Medicare for all act or something similar and for a higher minimum wage because I think at minimum the representative should be on record whether they believe health care is a universal is a basic right of Americans and also whether hard working Americans should be paid better. Lawmakers have introduced some form of universal health care legislation since 2013 but it's never made it out of committee. State Rep Chris Rabb is looking to raise wages.

[00:02:31]Make sure that we have a living wage for all. I've introduced the boldest living wage for all bill in the entire nation that starts at $15 an hour and goes up to an actual living wage indexed to inflation getting rid of the tipped minimum wage which here in Pennsylvania is $2.83 in 2026. We could significantly reduce poverty in America and that would have a disproportionate effect on the third congressional district.

[00:02:58]>> According to Congress's website the third district does have the second highest poverty rate of any congressional district in the state.

[00:03:04]However, Pennsylvania has declined to raise its $7.25 minimum wage since 2009.

[00:03:09]Now remember we're talking about a primary here all Democrats and a lot of them are hitting on the same points.

[00:03:15]Tomorrow I'll tell you what each candidate says separates themselves from the field and you can see our full conversation with each candidate at cbsphiladelphia.com.

[00:03:25]For now I'm Dan Snyder. We'll send it back to you.

[00:03:27]All right with less than a week to go now until primary day we did share our voters guide for you on our website. You can find it on the front page of cbsphiladelphia.com.