Bob Brooks, the former Bethlehem firefighter and union leader who entered the race for Lehigh Valley\u2019s seat in Congress with the backing of prominent Democrats, decisively won the primary Tuesday, setting him up to face GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in November.<\/p>\n
Brooks\u2019 victory is not a surprise to those who followed the race closely. He secured the most prominent endorsements \u2014 from local mayors to Gov. Josh Shapiro \u2014 plus millions of dollars in support from well-funded outside groups and the backing of dozens of local unions and progressive groups.<\/p>\n
But his convincing win \u2014 Brooks garnered more than 41% of all the votes cast in the district\u2019s 367 precincts, almost as much as the next two closest competitors combined, according to unofficial totals \u2014 is notable when facing three other Democrats in the race \u2014 former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, former Northampton County Executive Lamont G. McClure and former PPL engineer Carol Obando-Derstine \u2014 who each had their own support and advantages.<\/p>\n
It is also proof that the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by anonymous outside groups to attack his campaign and boost that of McClure\u2019s (who was not involved in that effort) did not sway voters as intended.<\/p>\n
Here is how Brooks won decisively, and how he could fare in November in one of the most competitive and consequential House races in the country. The 7th District is considered a \u201ctoss-up\u201d by the Cook Political Report, meaning the race is expected to be extraordinarily close and could determine which party controls the House of Representatives next year.<\/p>\n
Brooks\u2019 win<\/p>\n
Brooks was the last of the Democratic candidates to jump into the race, announcing his run in August,<\/a> but at the time he already had the backing of figures like U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio and the Service Employees International Union, which sent a busload of volunteers to the polls Tuesday in support.<\/p>\n Shapiro threw his support behind Brooks not long after his announcement, and at an April debate, Brooks disclosed that both Deluzio and Shapiro recruited him to run.<\/p>\n \u201cChris Deluzio and Josh Shapiro tapped me on the shoulder,\u201d Brooks said in April. \u201cThey wanted me to look at the numbers, check out what was going on in the race, and at that point in time, I decided I thought I was the best candidate. \u2026 I felt like I had the best shot to go unseat Ryan Mackenzie.\u201d<\/p>\n Just two weeks before the primary, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee<\/a>, the official campaign arm of the Democratic Party, officially backed Brooks in the primary, essentially tipping the scales in his favor, which angered some of his opponents.<\/p>\n The DCCC\u2019s gamble paid off, however: On Tuesday, Brooks won all four counties in the district.<\/p>\n He put up his strongest performance in Northampton County, with 44% of the vote. Brooks\u2019 dominance in Northampton County was so strong that he won in each of the 155 voting districts in all corners of the county.<\/p>\n McClure, as its former county executive, underperformed in his home county, with only 29% of the vote.<\/p>\n Brooks\u2019 victory came in spite of over $1 million in ad spending from an anonymous group called Lead Left PAC,<\/a> which aimed to portray both Brooks and Crosswell as secretly aligned with the MAGA movement, and McClure as a \u201ctrue progressive Democrat.\u201d McClure lagged his opponents in fundraising, posting just $20,000 in campaign contributions in his last finance report before the primary.<\/p>\n All three candidates named in the ads denounced the group behind it \u2014 which some evidence ties to right wing-groups.<\/p>\n Voters at some Lehigh Valley polls Tuesday night said they were sick of negative political advertising.<\/p>\n Attack ads in the Lehigh Valley\u2019s race for Congress are nothing new<\/a>: In 2024, pro-Mackenzie groups spent nearly $11 million on ads and mailers critical of his opponent, then Rep. Susan Wild, and pro-Wild groups spent around $5.9 million on attacks against Mackenzie.<\/p>\n Janet Pratt, who voted Tuesday alongside her husband, Bob, at the Ag Hall polling place in Allentown, said they both came out to vote for Gov. Josh Shapiro, state Rep. Mike Schlossberg, and the candidates those two Democrats endorsed, including Bob Brooks.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been doing a great job,\u201d Janet Pratt said. \u201cI believe in them, and I believe in who they support.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if the barrage of negative attacks against candidates including Brooks and Crosswell affected her vote, she scoffed.<\/p>\n \u201cI hate negative ads,\u201d she said. \u201cAbsolutely not.\u201d<\/p>\n Another voter who cast her vote in Allentown, who declined to share her full name, said the negative ads made her want to \u201cinvestigate\u201d the candidates further. A Democrat, she declined to say who she voted for, but said she considers herself an independent voter who did thorough research on all four candidates before making her pick.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat [the negative advertising] does, for me, is cause me to investigate,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause I don\u2019t trust the ads. You know, I think we\u2019re at that point, for me anyway, I don\u2019t know that I believe everything, good or bad. So I say, OK, well, I need to investigate further. If I put in a vote for this person, what is their record? What do they stand for?\u201d<\/p>\n Chris Borick, professor of American politics at Muhlenberg College, said anonymous groups\u2019 spending on primary elections is becoming increasingly common \u2014 for example, Democratic groups aimed to boost far-right state Sen. Doug Mastriano in the 2022 gubernatorial primary<\/a> because they believed he would be an easier candidate to beat in the general election.<\/p>\n In Brooks\u2019 case, the attacks were unsuccessful, but they could set the stage for further attacks in the general election.<\/p>\n \u201cThis practice that we saw of outside parties from the opposition engaging in primaries is becoming more common, and certainly was a substantial part of this campaign and of course, if the goal was to knock Brooks out, it failed in a major way,\u201d Borick said. \u201cBut part of the goal, I think, from those efforts is not only to perhaps get an outcome in the primary that the opposition would most like, but also to damage and wound the winner if they can\u2019t get their preferred candidate across the finish line. And so if you look at the amount of money spent targeting Brooks and Crosswell, to a degree, it didn\u2019t deliver the primary goal, but maybe those individuals and groups feel that they have been able to put some dents in him that could pay dividends down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n Brooks\u2019 appeal<\/p>\n The breadth of support Brooks achieved worked in his favor, Borick added. It is rare to see Shapiro, a relatively moderate Democrat, and the Working Families Party, a highly progressive left-leaning group, on the same page, but both backed Brooks in the primary.<\/p>\n Brooks\u2019 policy platform includes progressive positions<\/a> such as enacting Medicare for All and raising taxes on billionaires and corporations, as well as some more moderate positions backed by Shapiro, like \u201ccutting red tape\u201d to building more market rate housing and an \u201call of the above\u201d approach to energy production, including funding renewable, nuclear and natural gas production.<\/p>\n \u201cThe coalition that he has been able to assemble, that has Democrats who are widely considered progressive, and Democrats generally considered quite moderate and mainstream, behind him, is quite impressive,\u201d Borick said. \u201cAnd ultimately, he will need a unified Democratic Party [in November].\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to his policies, Brooks voters believe his working class, \u201ceveryman\u201d persona and demeanor appeals to voters across the political spectrum, too.<\/p>\n On the campaign trial, Brooks has frequently talked about being raised by a single mom and the dozens of odd jobs he has worked throughout his life to make ends meet, including bartender, dishwasher, warehouse worker and pizza delivery driver.<\/p>\n And in\u00a0a video celebrating his victory on the social media platform X<\/a> \u2014 the very first video his campaign posted after the race was called in his favor \u2014 Brooks says with a laugh, \u201cI really need a beer.\u201d<\/p>\n His working class background and humble, relatable demeanor are why Democratic analysts believe he has the best chance. The Bench, a new political action committee founded in the wake of Democrats\u2019 underperformance in 2024, is backing Brooks and other candidates with \u201creal-world experience\u201d like teachers, nurses, veterans, farmers and first responders, according to its website.<\/p>\n Brooks\u2019 blue collar roots are genuine, his friends say. That could be key to winning back working class voters who are disillusioned with Democrats and have left the party in droves.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI do think that when people look at Bob, they see a real person,\u201d said Lou Jimenez, president of the Bethlehem firefighters union, who calls Brooks a friend and mentor. \u201cThey don\u2019t just see a politician. They see a person who has been through the struggle, and who has came up above the struggle, and kept on getting through different obstacles throughout his life. Nobody is perfect. We have all had setbacks in our lives and we have all worked through them, and I think Bob\u2019s story is a lot of people\u2019s story.\u201d<\/p>\n As voters\u2019 perceptions of the Democratic Party continue to sink \u2014 the party as a whole has only a 35% approval rating, according to polling averages compiled by Real Clear Politics<\/a> \u2014 groups like the Bench and others that are backing Brooks believe that candidates like him can win back disillusioned voters.<\/p>\n His primary opponents\u2019 grievances about DCCC tipping the scales in Brooks\u2019 favor were quickly sidelined in favor of a victory for Democrats in November. Crosswell, a runner-up who criticized party officials for backing Brooks \u2014 saying in an early March statement, \u201cThis election is not the DCCC\u2019s or the D.C. insiders\u2019 decision\u201d \u2014 encouraged his supporters to get behind him in the general election.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m all in on doing whatever I can to help Bob Brooks and our other Democratic nominees win in November,\u201d Crosswell wrote in a Wednesday social media post. \u201cTough primaries are healthy and important. But I hope we can all come together now.\u201d<\/p>\n McClure, in his concession speech, also urged his supporters to back Brooks in November.<\/p>\n On to November<\/p>\n Democrats have momentum heading into the 2026 midterm elections in November. House Republicans only have a four-seat majority in the House, so netting just five seats would bring Democrats the majority next year. Donald Trump\u2019s approval ratings have slumped below 40%, according to Real Clear Politics,<\/a> which also compiled dozens of polls showing that Democrats are favored to win a majority in the House this fall.<\/p>\n But Brooks\u2019 path to Washington is unlikely to be as straightforward as his primary win.<\/p>\n The Lehigh Valley\u2019s congressional district is still one of the most competitive in the country, and he is up against a well-funded opponent \u2014 Mackenzie\u2019s campaign has nearly $2.6 million on hand to spend as of April 29, according to Federal Election Commission records.<\/p>\n Brooks has painted Mackenzie as a \u201ccareer politician\u201d who is out of touch with the Lehigh Valley\u2019s working people. Mackenzie had been a state representative in Lehigh County since 2012 before his election to Congress.<\/p>\n Mackenzie will not be easy to beat, according to Republican strategist and commentator Sam Chen.<\/p>\n Brooks positioned himself as the most progressive candidate in the primary, which Chen believes could be a liability in the general election where the voting population is a lot more moderate. He also expects an ongoing lawsuit with his former mother-in-law to be a liability in the race \u2014 Carol Wiley, mother of his ex-wife, Jennifer Lynn Brooks, sued Brooks for allegedly failing to pay a $130,000 judgement against him over a property ownership dispute. Brooks is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed.<\/p>\n Brooks, at an April debate, called the legal dispute a \u201cjoke,\u201d and noted that his ex-wife is supporting him in the ongoing lawsuit and has endorsed his run for office.<\/p>\n