The contested primary brought Democratic Party divisions front and center, featuring firefighters union boss Bob Brooks \u2014 endorsed by both Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a>, I-Vt. \u2014 former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure and EMILY\u2019s List-endorsed candidate Carol Obando-Derstine, who is seen as the preferred pick of the district\u2019s last Democratic representative, former Rep. Susan Wild of Allentown.<\/p>\n Brooks received several high-profile endorsements from Shapiro, Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren<\/a> of Massachusetts, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis and top state Democrats, including House Majority Leader Matt Bradford of Skippack and Sen. Vincent Hughes of Northwest Philadelphia.<\/p>\n TRUMP PLEDGES ‘AMERICA’S NEW GOLDEN AGE’ AS HE RALLIES IN PA’S POST-INDUSTRIAL THIRD-LARGEST CITY<\/a><\/p>\n The skyline of Allentown, Pennsylvania, the state’s third-largest city, is visible from the Tilghman Street Bridge. (Charles Creitz)<\/p>\n Brooks also earned the endorsement of the mayor of the area\u2019s largest city \u2014 Allentown, the third-largest city in the commonwealth.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, McClure \u2014 the only current local officeholder in the race \u2014 did not immediately gain traction against Brooks.<\/p>\n Brooks appeared to weather intraparty controversy after old social media posts expressing more moderate or conservative views resurfaced \u2014 including one using an off-color sexual term to describe former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick<\/a> for criticizing law enforcement during the BLM era.<\/p>\n FIRM THAT PROPELLED MAMDANI TO VICTORY IN NY LOOKS TO UNSEAT HOUSE GOP MEMBERS IN PA<\/a><\/p>\n Recent construction on Eighth Street in Allentown revealed an old-style campaign sign for Bill Heydt, the city’s last Republican mayor who served from 1994 to 2002. (Charlie Creitz)<\/p>\n Crosswell was born in nearby Schuylkill County but for many years worked in Washington for the Justice Department. He was one of several prosecutors who resigned in protest of the Trump administration dropping a federal probe into former New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Adams has since become less critical of the right and has often dinged his successor, Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, on social media.<\/p>\n Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., attends the House Education and Workforce Committee hearing titled “Beyond The Ivy League: Stopping the Spread of Antisemitism on American Campuses” in the Rayburn Building on May 7, 2025. (Tom Williams\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)<\/p>\n The district\u2019s tri-city hub of Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton \u2014 known locally as “A.B.E.” or “The Valley” \u2014 has a blue-collar history<\/a> that has at times entered the national consciousness through Billy Joel\u2019s famous anthem about Bethlehem Steel and other firms “closing all the factories down,” while the now-blighted SteelStacks often serve as both a backdrop for what once was and a rallying call for politicians pushing what comes next.<\/p>\n That “next” has included a wave of new warehouses and firms dedicated to interstate commerce<\/a>, along with growth tied to the tech sector.<\/p>\n GOP CHALLENGER UNSEATS REP. SUSAN WILD IN PENNSYLVANIA<\/a><\/p>\n Farmland in the northern part of the district is gradually being developed into homes and warehouses \u2014 to the chagrin of many longtime residents \u2014 as an influx of people from higher-tax New Jersey<\/a> and New York, along with the area\u2019s changing socioeconomic makeup, brings more liberal and progressive voters into a once “Reagan Democrat”-style region rooted in agriculture and union labor.<\/p>\n The former Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces are seen from Pennsylvania Route 412 near Lehigh University’s campus. (Charles Creitz\/Fox News Digital)<\/p>\n The district\u2019s current boundaries still reflect that contrast, as the farther north one travels, the more rural, agrarian or forested \u2014 and conservative \u2014 the area becomes. Wild drew criticism twice for appearing to insult the Trump-supporting swath of Carbon County, the only one of the district\u2019s three counties entirely within the 7th Congressional District to vote for Mackenzie in 2024.<\/p>\n The Republican in the race, Rep. Ryan Mackenzie of Lower Macungie, was a state representative<\/a> in western Lehigh County for many years before upsetting Wild by one percentage point in 2024.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n Mackenzie has since drawn praise from President Donald Trump<\/a> and criticism from the left, whose protesters often gather outside his office and spill onto busy Cedar Crest Boulevard in southwest Allentown.<\/p>\n As the House GOP\u2019s narrow majority hangs in<\/a> the balance, it remains to be seen which side is energized enough to turn out for its candidate in a race the nation will be watching closely.<\/p>\n Charles Creitz is a reporter for\u00a0Fox News Digital.\u00a0<\/p>\n He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.\u00a0<\/p>\n Charles covers media<\/a>, politics<\/a> and culture for Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! 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