Editor’s note: This is the first story about candidates for the state House 200th Legislative District seat.

In March, Chris Johnson announced his campaign to run for the state House seat currently held by Rep. Chris Rabb, who is not seeking reelection while running for Congress.

The 33-year-old candidate arrived with a number of high-profile endorsements, including from Mayor Cherelle Parker and Rabb. A Philadelphia native, Johnson says he’s been proud to call Mt. Airy his home for the last seven years.

Never having held public office, Johnson sat down with the Local to tell voters who he is and why they should vote for him.

“I would love to have the support of my neighbors. I believe I would earn their vote because of the experience that I have working and fighting for communities here in Northwest Philadelphia and across the city of Philadelphia,” Johnson said. “I truly have a passion for our communities and our neighborhoods here in Northwest Philadelphia, Mt. Airy, West Oak Lane, Chestnut Hill, and Blue Bell Hill. I do believe that with their support, I will continue the fight to ensure that every corner of our district can be stronger and healthier and safer and more vibrant.”

Growing up in North Philadelphia, Johnson and his three siblings were raised by his mother and grandmother. His brother, Corey Johnson, is a pastor at Germantown Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

“My mother, who raised me and my three siblings with the help of my grandmother and my village, also raised us in a household built on faith and service,” Johnson said. “I was born and raised Adventist and believing that we have a responsibility as a people to help make sure that we can create a world that’s more fair and more just and more compassionate for people.”

Johnson attended St. Joseph’s Preparatory School before earning a bachelor’s degree in political science from Oakwood University, in Huntsville, Alabama.

Johnson said the university’s motto, “Enter to learn, depart to serve,” resonated with him. Following graduation, he moved back to Philadelphia, eventually settling in Mt. Airy.

“I happened to find a tiny apartment off of Germantown Avenue here in Mt. Airy. Always knew Mt. Airy to be a place that had great diversity, vibrant communities, good people,” Johnson said. “I was grateful to move into the neighborhood. The one thing that I enjoy most is when I step outside my door … within 5, 10, 15 minutes, I can access high-quality public spaces.”

Johnson said he frequents Mt. Airy playground early mornings to play basketball, along with local businesses like Mt. Airy Coffee Company.

Work in politics

“When I was 26 years old, I was called and asked to serve as a district office director for our now speaker, Joanna McClinton,” Johnson said. “Little did I know, just a few months into the role, we would be facing a pandemic that would shutter schools, close businesses, and create unemployment challenges for a number of our constituents, who at that time really needed support to be able to make ends meet.

“So we tried to make sure that our office could be as responsive as possible to support those folks during a time of economic health and other sorts of challenges. It was a learning lesson, to say the least, because there’s no playbook when you’re trying to lead an office on how to do that.”

Following this, Johnson took a role as a regional representative in U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s Philadelphia office, where he worked for three years. During that time, Johnson earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government.

In 2024, nearing the end of Casey’s time as a senator, Johnson attended a tour of Lewis C. Cassidy Elementary School in West Philadelphia, which had opened that fall through federal funding that Casey helped secure.

“I told the folks at the school district, I said, this should be the model for more schools and more communities around the city of Philadelphia, understanding that a number of our school buildings are aging and have been in disrepair,” Johnson said. “They asked me, and said, ‘Well, we know that you’re going to be unemployed very soon, and we, with your experience at the state level and your work at the federal level, could use someone to help advocate on behalf of the school district to fight for funding.’”

Johnson became the director of state and federal government relations for the School District of Philadelphia.

“I think that it’s important that the state fully invests in our public schools so that we can ensure that our kids and our educators can have a high-quality academic experience and can walk into school buildings that are safe, welcoming, and vibrant,” Johnson said. “For the past year, I’ve been leading our state and federal advocacy work, talking to our legislators on both sides of the aisle, making sure that we could try really hard to get the necessary funding.”

Again, Johnson found himself in a changing landscape upon starting a new role. Amid waves of federal funding cuts, Johnson decided it was time to advocate for school funding as an elected official, rather than speaking to them.

Affordability, funding education, and public transit are focal points of Johnson’s platform. He lists fighting to modernize school buildings and securing funding for public transit across the state as his goals, along with investing in safer roads, bridges, and highways.

Johnson says he wants to fight for a stronger Commonwealth, “and we can do that by investing in our public education system, fighting to improve our public transit as well, and fighting to make sure we can make Pennsylvania more affordable so we can lower housing costs and impact our energy costs and so forth.

“I think it’s important that we find ways to make housing more accessible to more families, particularly as I mentioned, younger folks. Part of that is we have to find a way to, in a strategic and smart way, increase the housing stock here in our neighborhood.”

Growing up in the city, Johnson said he’s well aware the effect school closures have on communities.

With the recent plans shared by the Philadelphia School District to consolidate and close a handful of schools, Johnson said, “I view some of these decisions around modernizing or closing or co-locating or re-purposing as part of a legacy of disinvestment in our public education system here in Pennsylvania, but particularly here in Philadelphia … the vision for our future is ensuring we can get to a place where every single school within our district has the full complement that we see in suburban communities.”

Endorsements

With the announcement of his campaign, Parker said Johnson was “exactly the kind of leadership we need in Harrisburg.”

Rabb followed on social media, calling Johnson a “strong progressive voice for our neighbors in Mt. Airy, West Oak Lane, Chestnut Hill, and Blue Bell Hill who will stand up for the investments our communities need. He has been a great champion for critical priorities like public education and public transit. I know Chris will serve with honor and integrity, and I am proud to endorse him.”

Tommy Tucker can be reached at Tommy@chestnuthilllocal.com.