Roll Call reports that Bob Brooks, a union leader and retired firefighter, won the Democratic primary in May to challenge freshman Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania's 7th District. Roll Call also reports that Democrats view Mackenzie's Lehigh Valley seat as one of their best pickup opportunities as they seek to win control of the House. NBC News reports that Democrats need to net three seats to take back the House, and that four Democratic primaries in Pennsylvania had already drawn a combined $50 million in advertising spent or committed, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
CBS News reports that after the district's boundaries were redrawn for the 2018 cycle, Democrat Susan Wild represented it for three terms before Mackenzie defeated her in 2024 by about a point. CBS News also reports that the district includes the bluer Lehigh County, including Allentown, and Northampton County, which has voted for the eventual national winner in every presidential cycle except three since 1920. NBC News reports that Trump carried the district by 3 points in 2024, Joe Biden won it by 1 point in 2020, and Gov. Josh Shapiro, who appears at the top of the ticket this fall, carried it by 12 points in 2022. CNBC reports growing local opposition to data centers in the district, including a proposed complex in South Whitehall Township across the street from a high school.
Brooks is the head of the state firefighters union, and NBC News reports he also owns a snow removal and lawn care business and would be one of the only House members without a college degree if elected. Roll Call reports he took about 40 percent of the primary vote against former Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, former Justice Department prosecutor Ryan Crosswell and engineer Carol Obando-Derstine, with endorsements from Shapiro, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Working Families Party and the Blue Dog PAC. Mackenzie told PBS News in February that he sits on the House Homeland Security Committee, and NBC News reports he said cost of living and affordability is the top issue in the district.
Both candidates have faced scrutiny in national coverage. NBC News reports that Brooks faced questions over years-old social media posts obtained by The Washington Post and over a federal financial disclosure estimating his and his wife's assets at between $148,000 and $3.89 million. Fox News reports that Brooks settled a dispute this month with his former mother-in-law over a $55,500 debt from 2004 after courts ruled against him, and that the terms of the settlement remain unclear. NBC News reports that Democrats have criticized Mackenzie over tariffs after layoffs at a Mack Trucks plant in the district in April 2025, and that Mackenzie told The Washington Post he was "disappointed" by the layoffs while defending the tariffs.
On money, NBC News reported last October that Mackenzie had raised almost $1.47 million through June 2025 and had about $1.2 million on hand, almost five times as much as the nearest Democrat at the time. Roll Call reports that Mackenzie was among the battleground Republicans outraised by their challengers from April through June of this year. NBC News reported before the primary that the group Stronger Together PA had spent more than $1 million backing Brooks. CNN reports that Mackenzie told a recent fundraiser that outside groups, including Americans for Prosperity and Trump's groups, are going to be helping his campaign.
Brooks speaks on camera in his first general election ad, as reported by Roll Call.
“I'll cut off the fuel. Smoke out the billionaires and their lobbyists,”
Brooks spoke on the Meidas Touch podcast in May about a Trump rally in the Poconos, as reported by Fox News.
“literally, he brought a guy up on stage and claimed he was a fireman and profiting from the no-tax-on-overtime, which 90 percent of our guys didn't get the benefit from anyways, but the guy wasn't a paid fireman”
Brooks addressed union leaders and supporters in Bethlehem the week before the May primary, as reported by NBC News.
“The whole system is rigged against us,”
The statement appears on Brooks' campaign website, as quoted by Fox News.
“We need common-sense laws: universal background checks, closing the gun show loophole, and enforcing waiting periods so dangerous people don't get their hands on guns,”
Brooks gave a statement to The Washington Post about his past Facebook posts, as reported by Fox News.
“I've shared a few stupid things over the years, and for that I am sorry,”
Mackenzie spoke at a campaign fundraiser, according to audio obtained by CNN.
“With all of your help and the help of all the outside groups — AFP, President Trump's groups are going to be in helping, all kinds of other groups — I am confident that we're going to win again in 2026,”
Mackenzie answered a question about the administration's immigration enforcement in a PBS News Hour interview with Lisa Desjardins.
“Northampton County, unfortunately has a sanctuary policy basically in place that does not allow them to release those individuals directly into ICE custody. That leaves our community vulnerable and less safe than it should be.”
Mackenzie was asked in a PBS News Hour interview about proposed reforms including mask bans and identification for ICE officers.
“when you're talking about ways that we can identify our agents appropriately, there should be identification on these individuals.”
Mackenzie was asked about rising grocery prices in his district in a PBS News Hour interview.
“When it comes to grocery prices in particular, it is a challenge, there is no doubt, to make sure that we provide the relief for individuals in those necessary staples that you're talking about.”
Mackenzie spoke with Fox News Digital while door knocking with Americans for Prosperity in Bethlehem in May 2025.
“We have a tremendous opportunity as members of Congress to actually pass transformative legislation which will bring down taxes and the cost of living for not only individuals, but small businesses all across this country.”
Platforms are on the candidates' own sites, linked above.