Republican Ryan Mackenzie had the narrowest win in Pa. two years ago. He’s betting Trump will help him again.

DALLAS, Texas — As Republicans look to keep their narrow control of Congress by defending the seats they flipped in 2024, there aren’t many places where they can afford to lose fewer votes than in U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie’s district covering the Lehigh Valley and Poconos.

Mackenzie’s takedown down of a three-term Democrat by a mere 4,000 votes two years ago was the narrowest congressional race in Pennsylvania — his 1% margin of victory, the seventh smallest out of 435 House districts across the country.

Standing on the Republican Party’s biggest stage of the year — and likely staring down another razor-thin result this fall — Mackenzie didn’t hold back when laying out the potential stakes.

“I’m running in one of the top races again, and it will determine the future direction for our nation,” Mackenzie said on the second day of the first-ever Republican midterm convention. “Now we must get to work, we must go out and win in November, and we must save America.”

Like one of Pennsylvania’s other vulnerable Republican incumbents who spoke a day earlier, Mackenzie embraced the convention known as “Trump-a-palooza” even as the president’s low poll numbers threaten to hurt their party in the elections.

In an interview after a brief speech that focused on the president’s signature tax cuts, Mackenzie said Democrats’ threats to repeal those cuts and other Trump policies meant the president is, in a sense, on the ballot — so it makes sense to campaign in that way.

“We know the history of American politics is the party who has the White House, their voters end up being less energized in midterm elections, and so I think it was a smart idea to try something like this, a midterm convention, to energize our voters,” Mackenzie said.

Generating enthusiasm for the Republican ticket could be a tough task for Mackenzie and other incumbents with polling in Pennsylvania showing widespread frustration with Trump’s handling of key issues, including the cost of living.

“Everybody is getting gouged,” said Ron Jones, 79, an Allentown Democratic voter and Navy veteran who said he feels stretched relying on his Social Security and pension checks. “You just can’t afford to live. Period.”

Jones said he hasn’t been following the congressional race closely, but said he plans to help “get rid of all incumbents.”

Mackenzie told The Inquirer his phone started blowing up with text messages immediately after his speech. The lawmaker said he welcomed the opportunity to have a national audience to talk about his work, and his opponent.

Mackenzie didn’t just applaud Trump’s policies during his speech, he also imitated the president’s ferocious style of politics by blasting his Democratic challenger Bob Brooks as a scandal-ridden, “far-left nutjob.”

Brooks, he contended, was “handpicked by the Democratic establishment,” and has spoken critically about non-union firefighters. He also accused Brooks of stealing money from his own family, a claim based on a lawsuit brought by Brooks’ former mother-in-law and involving a decades-old debt she says that he owes.

“That’s what crazy looks like,” Mackenzie said.

Brooks, a retired firefighter in Bethlehem and Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association, was recruited last year by prominent Democrats including Gov. Josh Shapiro and U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio. He quickly got a groundswell of support from other moderates and progressives alike, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Those high-profile supporters, and Brooks himself, leaned into his working-class image — highlighting his history of working multiple jobs and his insistence, even as he ran for Congress, on continuing to mow lawns and coach high school baseball.

Mackenzie and national Republicans who’ve invested resources into his campaign have repeatedly targeted Brooks for the lawsuit involving his family and for old social media comments.

In one post, Brooks lambasted volunteer firefighters working in areas where other union firefighters operate as “scabs” and other pejoratives.

Brooks has dismissed those and other attacks on his old posts, saying he never thought he would be a candidate for office when he made them.

The Democrat did not directly address those issues in a comment after Mackenzie broadcast them to a national audience.

“Ryan Mackenzie got his wish today: a big boy speaking slot on stage at Trump’s party in Dallas,” Brooks said in a statement that blamed Mackenzie for rising costs and voting against restricting Trump’s attacks in Iran, the two areas that polls show Trump performing the worst among both Republicans and Democrats.

“Mackenzie’s trip to Dallas is a reminder of who he is: a lap dog for Donald Trump, for his party bosses, and for anyone with power and money,” Brooks said.

Just steps from the convention location earlier in the day, a small group of House Democrats that included U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D., Montgomery) protested by, mainly, hitting Republicans on affordability.

“If you listen to what’s being said across the street, you might feel like you’re living in some separate reality. Here’s the reality check,” Dean said as she rattled off the higher cost of groceries, electricity and gasoline since Trump took office.

Dean targeted Mackenzie as well as U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R., Luzerne) and U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) — who each spoke at the convention on Wednesday — specifically, saying they were among the Republicans “happy to coddle a president who is unfit and unwell.”

“Here at the heel of Donald Trump, I don’t know what they think they’re doing,” Dean said behind a podium reading, “Fighting for an affordable America.”

Both Bresnahan, who is running in a competitive race against Democratic Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, and Mackenzie focused on an economic message during their speeches.

They did not directly address concerns about inflation, or the Iran war’s effects on the rising cost of gas.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican who joined Mackenzie on stage, contended the GOP majority had focused its agenda on the working class. He pointed to the tax exemptions for tips and overtime pay.

“If you don’t believe me, just ask yourself, how many billionaires do you know that are tipped employees?” said Smith, the House Ways and Means chair.

But neither he, nor Mackenzie addressed the cuts to Medicaid and food assistance that were included in the same legislation to help pay for the tax cuts they repeatedly touted.

“We delivered tax relief for every American by locking in lower rates and expanding the standard deduction,” Mackenzie said.

Staff writer Al Lubrano contributed reporting.