Tonyelle Cook-Artis (left) and Chris Rabb both say they are the best person for PA's 200th House seat.

by Brendan Sample

After some time without any kind of disputed primary election, the 200th district of the Pa. House of Representatives will see the Democratic candidate decided on April 26. Incumbent Tonyelle Cook-Artis will seek the nomination alongside newcomers Chris Rabb and Bobbie Curry. The Republican candidate for the seat, Latryse McDowell, will be running for her party unopposed.

While Cook-Artis is the incumbent in this race, it is also her first time running for the seat in a regular general election. Prior to holding the seat, she served as chief of staff to her predecessor, Cherelle Parker. In last year’s general election, Parker was elected to a spot on the Philadelphia City Council, which resulted in a special election to fill her seat. Cook-Artis was nominated by a group of ward leaders within the district, ran for the seat and won the special election.

Before holding the chief of staff position, Cook-Artis was a constituent service representative for then-Philadelphia city councilwoman Marian Tasco of the 9th district. She has also been an active member of a number of community-based organizations, such as the Pennsylvania Women’s Campaign Fund, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women and the 50th Ward Committee. When asked why she believed that she is the best person to represent the 200th district, she cited this kind of experience as a significant factor that makes her distinctive in this race.

“My leadership, experience and strength set me aside from my opponent,” she said. “I have lived in the 200th legislative district my whole life and bring 20 years of experience of community organizing and advocating for the voiceless in the district.”

Among the various issues that make up Cook-Artis’ platform, she emphasizes three in particular: education, public safety and economic development. If elected, she wants to find a justifiable funding formula for local schools, as well as reinstate programs that have been cut in recent years in such departments as sports, arts and recreation.

“The students that are most in need of resources are currently receiving the least due to how the state has implemented its funding system, tying most revenue to local real estate taxes,” Cook-Artis said. “At the minimum, we must support the restoration of the $1 billion in cuts from the previous governor’s administration, and then investigate the revenue options that are available to help infuse struggling school districts like the SDOP.”

With regards to public safety, Cook-Artis will seek to set up a universal background check on firearm purchases and institute harsher punishments for transactions where a middleman purchases a gun on behalf of someone who isn’t legally able to. These measures will be taken to curb the spread of illegal firearms winding up in the hands of children.

In terms of economic development, her focus is on finding resources that will help to get rid of the damage done to commercial corridors and to ensure that neighborhood businesses hire more residents of the district. Other issues that Cook-Artis wants to emphasize include equal pay for women, raising the minimum wage, women’s reproductive rights and the equal treatment of all citizens regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation

Cook-Artis’ main competition for her seat comes from Chris Rabb, a Democratic Committeeperson for Philadelphia’s ninth ward who brings an impressive amount of professional experience to the table. Before serving as Committeeperson, he was a legislative aid for the U.S. Senate and was on the White House Conference on Small Business as a trainer and writer during the Clinton administration. In addition to his experience in Washington, he also serves on the board of directors for both the Friends of the Wissahickon and Race Forward, which is based in NYC, has taught at Temple University’s Fox School of Business since 2012 and is a published author, having released “Invisible Capital: How Unforeseen Forces Shape Entrepreneurial Opportunity” in 2010.

Rabb has kept the focus on a number of issues during his campaign, with his biggest legislative priorities being working toward full and fair funding for public education, criminal justice reform and community-centered economic development.

Education is something about which Rabb has been particularly passionate. He wants to make sure that the funding formula for education is solid so that there can be more equity can be added to the way schools are funded. Rabb also wants to ensure that bipartisan support can be secured for increased funding, along with embracing innovation and creativity when it comes to this issue.

“I don’t believe in the binary representation for what’s feasible in terms of ‘Here’s what Democrats do and here’s what Republicans do,’” said Rabb. “I believe that our legislators need to be a lot more creative in terms of how we think about new sources of revenue.”

Rabb has also received a number of endorsements from various organizations such as the 9th Ward Democratic Committee, the Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club and Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks. Among the individuals endorsing him is former U.S. senator Carol Moseley Braun, the first African American female senator in the nation’s history.

Another notable aspect of the race between the two Democratic candidates is the difference in how they’ve raised money for their campaigns. Between March 8 and April 11, Cook-Artis raised $12,860 for her campaign, and $10,650 of that total has come from political campaigns. Compare those totals to the $750 Rabb has raised from PACs from January 1 to April 11, and his claims of running a true grassroots campaign begin to hold plenty of water.

The Local spoke with Bobbie Curry, who agreed to answer a set of questions via email. He did not respond to follow up emails seeking those answers.