Bob Brooks for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District | Endorsement
Brooks’ campaign commercials highlight his firefighting career but undersell his full story of hard work and life challenges. Experience that will serve him well in Congress.
What firefighter and union leader Bob Brooks may lack in political acumen, he more than makes up for in his lived experience.
In a House of Representatives filled with a Republican majority that cares more about serving President Donald Trump than their constituents, Brooks may be just what voters in Lehigh Valley’s 7th District need.
The bald and burly Brooks is as blue collar as they come. He was raised by a single mom in North Adams, Mass. After their house burned down while he was in high school, they moved in with his grandparents in Bath, Pa.
Brooks, 53, has been working since he was a kid, first delivering newspapers at age 10 before landing a steady string of jobs at a warehouse, gas station, and hoagie shop. He drove a truck for a local beer distributor and held several bartending jobs.
He became a firefighter in Bethlehem and then held various union leadership posts, eventually becoming president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association.
Brooks’ campaign commercials highlight his firefighting experience but undersell his full story of hard work and life challenges. He knows firsthand the kitchen table issues many working families face. During an interview with The Inquirer Editorial Board, Brooks came across as measured, authentic, and relatable.
He has the backing of Gov. Josh Shapiro, a moderate. But Brooks has also been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont progressive, and the Blue Dog Democrats, the fiscally conservative wing of the party.
Brooks said that his politics are “blue collar,” but that he would work across any aisle to help families.
“We all got to figure out how to work together,” he told the Editorial Board.
Brooks, who is married and has two children and two stepchildren, plans to focus on lowering costs and helping families get ahead. To do that, he favors increasing the minimum wage and expanding healthcare for all.
Brooks is challenging Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, a first-term Republican who has supported all of the Trump policies that have combined to make life unaffordable for many Americans, including costly tariffs, the failed war in Iran, and the Big Beautiful Bill that gave tax cuts to the richest while slashing health coverage and increasing the deficit.
Trump’s initiatives have led to higher prices on everything from gas, groceries, cars, housing, and healthcare — along with higher interest rates and increased inflation. They also run counter to everything the president promised voters regarding lowering prices and ending wars.
Meanwhile, Mackenzie and the Republicans who control the House and Senate have ignored or enabled Trump’s many misdeeds, including his corrupt self-dealing, abuse of the rule of law, and cruel deportation program.
In addition to being a Trump apparatchik, the incumbent has been accused of embellishing his resumé and lying about his age on Tinder, an online dating app. In his one term in Congress, Mackenzie has not sponsored any major bills and has consistently voted against women’s access to reproductive healthcare.
The Inquirer Editorial Board invited Mackenzie to meet and make his case for reelection, but his campaign did not respond to multiple requests.
Brooks’ work ethic and career as a firefighter demonstrates he will show up for the people in the Lehigh Valley. The Inquirer endorses Bob Brooks for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th District.
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