This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s partnership with NOTUS, a nonpartisan news organization that covers government and politics with the fresh eyes of early career journalists and the expertise of veteran reporters.
Retired firefighter Bob Brooks is projected to win the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District and will face off against Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in one of the most hotly contested midterm races in the country this November.
Brooks entered Tuesday’s race with a unified coalition in today’s divided Democratic Party. Brooks, who has campaigned on issues like “Medicare for All” and pro-union legislation, got endorsements from across the Democratic base. Those ranged from progressives, like Sen. Bernie Sanders, to moderates including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Winning the seat in November will be crucial to Democrats’ hopes for taking control of the House. Mackenzie won the seat by just 4,000 votes in 2024 and is facing significant political headwinds in his bid for reelection.
T.J. Rooney, the former chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, told NOTUS that Brooks attracted wide party support because he is a working-class candidate.
“He’s lived the life of a lot of people whose voices are sometimes a little bit drowned out in Washington, so he has many of those things that you need to be elected to high office,” Rooney said. “He has a depth of support that’s unique and crosses the Democratic divide in a lot of respects.”
Rooney said Democrats want a candidate who personally understands voters’ concerns about the cost of living in the Lehigh Valley.
The district comprises former coal towns that suffered from the decline of the steel industry and where the unemployment rate hovers above average at 4.9%. Brooks beat out former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, former Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure and former U.S. Senate staffer Carol Obando-Derstine for the nomination.
“It’s a working-class district full of working-class families, or now families who may be one generation removed from the steel plant, or the garment factory, or the automobile plant, but nonetheless the water runs deep,” Rooney said.
Nick Gavio, a spokesperson for the Working Families Party, told NOTUS that Brooks’ blue-collar background is also what attracted the group to his campaign.
“Congress has enough lawyers, but there are very, very few actual working people there, and we think that that’s a perspective that belongs there,” Gavio said. “Someone who actually feels the pain when costs go up.”
Eli Cousin, a spokesperson for House Democrats’ campaign arm, said Brooks’ position as a union leader and a longtime firefighter also appealed to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in Washington. The DCCC named Brooks to its Red to Blue program, which provides fundraising support and strategic guidance to candidates seeking to take Republican seats.
A spokesperson for Brooks told NOTUS that Democrats across the spectrum see the need for more working class representation in Congress.
“Bob is a working class Democrat. He’s had nearly every job in the book - often more than one at a time –– and he’s lived the life of so many people across the Lehigh Valley and the country,” the campaign said in a statement. “That’s why Bob has earned the support of such a wide coalition spanning all corners of our party.”
J.J. Balaban, a Democratic admaker whose firm produced ads favoring Brooks’ using independent expeditures, said there was always a feeling among local Democrats that the district was winnable, but as candidates started to emerge they worried some of the early contenders would be difficult to sell in the swing district.
Shapiro and other Pennsylvania politicians helped recruit Brooks because of his background.
“Brooks has put forward a very working-class-centric campaign in his messaging,” Balaban said. “That is something that is, in some ways, a very old-school Pennsylvania Democratic ethos. It’s kind of reclaiming the wisdom of the ancients.”
Shapiro helped elevate Brooks’ name recognition in the district and attract an influx of outside cash to the campaign. A November win could help Shapiro cement his national profile as a Democratic leader who helped the party flip the House, Balaban said.
“If Gov. Shapiro is interested in running for president, it will of course be a good story to run reelection handedly in the purplest state in the country,” Balaban continued. “But it’s an even better story if he can show that his victory helped other Democrats up and down the ticket.”