Bob Brooks won the Democratic nomination for the PA-07 U.S. House seat in Tuesday’s Primary Election. He’s earned the chance to face Republican incumbent Ryan Mackenzie in November.
Brooks, who’s served as a firefighter for 20 years, President of the Pennsylvania Professional Firefighters Association, and a small business owner, beat out three other Democratic candidates with a campaign centered around working class residents. He received 42% of the vote.
Ryan Mackenzie, who won his party’s nomination again Tuesday after running unopposed, emphasized that voters sent him to Washington to deliver results for communities in the Lehigh Valley and Carbon County. He says he’s done just that, tightening regulations on Congressional stock trading, supporting working families, and bringing millions in funding back to the region.
During his campaign, Brooks received notable endorsements from Governor Josh Shapiro, U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, several state legislators, and a long list of labor unions. He also received an endorsement from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, an unusual endorsement for a candidate to receive before the Primary Election.
The PA-07 seat is seen as one of the most vulnerable and important come November. Incumbent Ryan Mackenzie won the seat by just 1% in 2024. It’s one of the seats Democrats look to use to flip control of the U.S. House, which currently has a narrow 217-212 Republican majority.
In 2018, the last midterm election under President Trump, Pennsylvania Democrats flipped four congressional seats from Republican incumbents. They hope to capitalize on possible low voter turnout in November without Trump on the ballot.
