ALLENTOWN — Ahead of the Nov. 3 election, Pennsylvania voters have identified the economy as a top issue, driven by concerns about the cost of living, unemployment, and utility prices.
It’s a key focus in the 7th Congressional District race between Republican incumbent Ryan Mackenzie, who seeks a second term, and Democratic candidate Bob Brooks, president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association. Third-party candidate Andrew Tupone was removed from the ballot.
The race is also one of three toss-up U.S. House contests in Pennsylvania identified by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Mackenzie in 2024 flipped the seat held by Democrat Susan Wild for three terms.
The purple district covers Lehigh and Northampton Counties, including Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton, as well as all of Carbon County and part of Monroe County.
Members of Congress, elected for two-year terms, vote on legislation that affects the economy, including changes to federal taxes and budgets, as well as government spending. They can also secure federal funding and advocate for the district they represent through shaping and voting for legislation.
While Mackenzie and Brooks differ on tariffs and the ongoing war in Iran, which have contributed to increases in the prices of groceries and gas, they both support healthcare reform. The economic issue they align on most is the cost of housing, which they both agree is too high in the district.
Below, we break down the candidates’ positions on some of the key economic issues ahead of the Nov. 3 election: tax policies, affordability, and jobs. You can learn more about their positions during a WFMZ debate scheduled for 10 a.m. Oct. 21.
Tax policies
Mackenzie, who served as a member of the Pennsylvania House from 2012 until he was elected to Congress, has a history of supporting tax breaks for families.
In Congress, Mackenzie introduced the Working Families Tax Package, a series of bills that included child and childcare tax credits. They ended up as part of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, also called President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
Mackenzie voted for the OBBBA, which was signed into law on July 4, 2025. It made permanent most of the individual and business tax cuts from 2017’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including reducing the top corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, doubling the standard deduction, and expanding the Child Tax Credit. It also created federal income tax deductions for tips, overtime pay, and taxpayers 65 and older through 2028.
While the OBBBA is expected to boost the economy in the short term, researchers at Brookings, a nonpartisan think tank, said in a preliminary analysis released in March that it will raise federal deficits by between $3.7 trillion and $5.1 trillion over the next decade. High-income households are expected to see the largest benefits, with many of the spending cuts, particularly to Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP, falling on low-income and immigrant families.
Mackenzie says he’s “not done yet — continuing to team with legislators from across the aisle to support a host of commonsense legislative initiatives that make life easier for working families,” on his campaign website.
Brooks, who has described the OBBBA as “God-awful,” said he wants to “Bring back everything that was cut” in the OBBBA.
His platform includes raising the corporate tax rate and repealing the TCJA, arguing it “handed massive breaks to billionaires and big corporations, exploding the national debt and leaving working families to pick up the tab.”
He supports a billionaire minimum tax, saying on his campaign website that it’s “time the wealthy and big corporations finally pay their taxes so we can rebuild the middle class.”
Campaign materials reviewed by Spotlight PA show Brooks supports the Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act. Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Pa.), the legislation would require high-income taxpayers to contribute more to Social Security and Medicare. It has not seen a vote.
The Trump administration’s tariffs, a tax tacked on to imported goods, have been an ongoing point of disagreement between the campaigns.
While Mackenzie has supported imposing higher tariffs, he has said the uncertainty and change “from the administration was definitely not helpful” for businesses.
Brooks said that “Blanket tariffs are crushing people,” after taking a tour of small businesses in Allentown. In campaign materials, he has criticized tariffs, saying they are “taking money out of working people's pockets, raising prices and making it harder for small businesses to survive.”
Affordability
Healthcare, housing, grocery, and gas prices are key affordability issues as the cost of living continues to squeeze voters’ budgets.
The Affordable Care Act included premium tax credits to help make health insurance less costly. Those credits were enhanced in 2021 when the American Rescue Plan Act passed, and extended in 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act. However, they expired at the end of last year.
Mackenzie was one of 17 House Republicans to vote in January in favor of the Breaking the Gridlock Act, a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D., Mass.) and aimed at reinstating enhanced ACA health insurance subsidies for three years. The legislation has not yet seen a vote in the Senate.
While arguing the ACA “has actually made healthcare too expensive for many Americans,” Mackenzie said he is “working in a bipartisan way to avoid a sharp increase in health insurance costs.”
Since those tax credits expired at the end of 2025, nearly 202,000 enrollees on Pennie, the state health insurance exchange, have dropped their coverage.
Mackenzie also recently introduced the Net Effective Cost Transparency and Prescription Drug Affordability Act of 2026, legislation aimed at increasing transparency and competition in the pharmacy benefit manager market and helping lower prescription drug costs. It has not seen a vote.
“Families and seniors in the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos deserve real transparency when it comes to what they pay for prescription drugs,” Mackenzie said in a news release. “Our bipartisan legislation will make it easier to understand the true cost after rebates, discounts, and fees are taken into account. By increasing transparency and competition among PBMs, we can help lower costs and ensure patients and health plans are getting a better deal.”
The OBBBA included nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid over the next decade, as well as imposed work requirements, more frequent eligibility checks, and higher cost-sharing, among other provisions.
Brooks supports restoring what was cut from Medicaid and the ACA subsidies, as well as “anything that gets us closer to universal coverage — whether that be expanding the ACA, a public option, or Medicare for All,” according to campaign materials.
He argues on his campaign website that residents “shouldn’t have to run into a burning building to get healthcare from your government or wait until you turn 65.”
Both candidates have acknowledged that housing costs are too high across the district.
In January, Mackenzie co-sponsored the Make American Housing Affordable Act. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R., New Jersey), the legislation would establish a tax credit for residents buying a primary home. It has not yet seen a vote.
Citing housing affordability as “one of the top concerns of families across the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos,” the bill “provides targeted tax relief to help make homeownership a reality for hardworking families,” Mackenzie said in a news release.
In May, he also co-sponsored the Affordable Housing Credit Carryback Act. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Mike Carey (R., Ohio), the legislation would increase the carryback — a deduction or credit that can be applied or “carried” to offset tax or taxable income in a preceding taxable year — period, for the low-income housing tax credit from one year to five years.
Also that month, Mackenzie voted for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a bipartisan federal housing law. It went into effect in July and aims to make housing more affordable by banning investors who own at least 350 houses from buying more, among other provisions.
If reelected, Mackenzie will “continue to partner with Democrats and Republicans to support smart policies that continue to improve housing affordability,” according to his campaign website.
Brooks’ housing plan includes building more starter homes, cracking down on corporate landlords and rent gouging, and expanding first-time home-buyer programs. He also supports “cutting the rules and red tape that make homes harder and more expensive to build,” criticizing tariffs on lumber and other raw materials, saying they are driving up the cost of building new homes and apartment buildings.
He says he would be a “day 1 cosponsor” of the Homes for Every Local Protector, Educator, and Responder Act. Introduced by U.S. Rep. John H. Rutherford (R., Florida), the legislation would establish a program to provide mortgage assistance to law enforcement officers, elementary and secondary school teachers, firefighters, or other first responders. It has not seen a vote.
The median sales price for homes in Lehigh and Northampton Counties hit $379,000 in August. While that’s down from record-setting highs in June and July, it’s nearly a 10% jump from last year. And last summer, the Lehigh Valley was named the secondmost competitive rental market in the country.
The cost of groceries, which has risen due to compounding factors including inflation and tariffs, has been a key issue.
In June, Mackenzie co-sponsored the Grocery Affordability Act. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman (D., Virginia), the legislation would establish a tax credit for grocery stores located in food deserts.
“Every community in the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos deserves access to convenient, nutritious, and affordable grocery options,” Mackenzie said in a news release. “Reducing cost barriers to the expansion of businesses offering quality food options in areas not currently served can expand access and help with affordability. After years of price increases in the grocery sector, expanding choices and giving people more options will help everyone.”
Brooks has pledged to vote to restore the SNAP benefits cut by the OBBBA. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the legislation will reduce federal spending on the program by almost $187 billion over the next decade by changing how benefits, administrative costs, and nutrition education costs are funded.
When it comes to everyday goods, Brooks’ platform includes enacting “strong price-gouging enforcement, antitrust action, and transparency rules to protect ordinary people.”
Residents are also feeling pressure at the pump, as oil and gas prices have risen nationwide since the start of the Iran War in late February.
The average price of a gallon of gas as of Sept. 29 in Pennsylvania is $4.53, according to AAA, higher than the $4.46 national average. This time last year, the average price of a gallon of gas was $3.18 in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area.
Mackenzie, whose 2024 platform included criticizing American involvement in forever wars, has supported the conflict, consistently voting against resolutions that would end the war, including a Sept. 15 war powers resolution that would halt Trump’s ability to continue military action without congressional approval.
Brooks opposes the war, saying on his campaign website that the conflict has resulted in “gas and fertilizer prices spiking, inflation hitting a four-year high, and working families in the Lehigh Valley paying the price for a war that should’ve never been started.”
Jobs
Brooks, who was a Bethlehem firefighter for 20 years and previously worked as a dishwasher, bartender, and a beer truck and snowplow driver, supports more funding for apprenticeships and trade programs that lead to good-paying jobs in manufacturing, construction, and energy.
He also favors policies that support union labor, arguing on his campaign website that labor organizations “are what built the middle class.”
He has voiced his support for the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. Introduced in 2021, it would expand labor protections related to workers' rights to organize and collectively bargain. While it died in the Senate, the legislation was reintroduced in 2025 as the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act.
Brooks also supports raising the minimum wage and tying it to inflation, saying on his campaign website that it’s “time hard work actually pays and gives families a shot at not just existing, but living comfortably.” However, he has not specified how much he would raise it.
During his tenure in the Pennsylvania House, Mackenzie voted against increasing the minimum wage.
Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has been $7.25 since the federal minimum went up in 2009, and has remained stagnant even as neighboring states’ have increased. Last year, the Democratic-controlled state House voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in 20 counties, and to $12 in the rest. Since then, HB 2189 has sat in the Republican-controlled Senate, awaiting a vote.
Mackenzie does not have jobs listed as a priority on his campaign website, but has lauded federal investments in manufacturing workforce training and technical-assistance programs.
He has said he’s in favor of cutting federal red tape for small businesses because regulatory “uncertainty and higher compliance costs ultimately make it harder for employers to create opportunities for themselves and their workers.”
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.9% in July, according to the state Department of Labor & Industry, lower than the national rate of 4.1%. It’s the first time the commonwealth’s unemployment has been below 4% since October 2024.
However, the department also projects the commonwealth will face a shortage of more than 300,000 skilled trade workers by 2030.