A working-class candidate: Bob Brooks sets progressive agenda

Universal health care, taxing billionaires, and restoring ACA cuts are part of Bob Brooks’ campaign platform. 

Something is brewing in the Lehigh Valley.

Bob Brooks, a former 20-year firefighter for the City of Bethlehem and current President of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association, laid out a bold, progressive agenda for his congressional campaign in front of hundreds of supporters in Easton on Monday. 

“Here’s a little of what I’d like to do down there. I want to restore health care cuts Ryan Mackenzie voted for. I would like to institute universal health care,” Brooks said, adding, “I want to make the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share. No more billionaires paying the same or less than a nurse or a teacher.” 

Earlier this year, Politico called Brooks “the candidate who wants to have a beer with you,” and that’s exactly how he made his pitch to take on US House Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Lehigh) in the upcoming midterm election. 

But first, Brooks will have to get through a crowded primary field with five other candidates vying for the opportunity to run against Mackenzie. 

Those hopefuls include Ryan Crosswell, a former Republican and prosecutor for the US Department of Justice; Carol Obando-Derstine, a senior advisor to former US Sen. Bob Casey;  former Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure; Aiden Gonzalez, vice president of Lehigh Valley Young Democrats; and Lewis Shupe. 

With beer and cider in hand, over 450 supporters and onlookers packed Weyerbacher Brewing Company to hear Brooks share in a moderated discussion with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about the future of the Democratic Party. 

“ Only 2% of Congress comes from the working class, yet 60% of the United States comes from the working class. I consider myself part of the 60%,” Brooks told the crowd. 

“I had been on SNAP benefits as a child, and as a young adult I’ve needed a hand up. I’ve juggled multiple jobs when somebody in the family got sick and you either had to pay the mortgage or you had to pay the medical.”

After the event, Brooks pointed to recent cuts to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as one of the main reasons why Democrats should jump on board in support of universal health care. 

“​​ We are the richest country in the world, and everybody should have the right to have health care. Everybody,” Brooks told The Keystone. “There should be nobody walking around without healthcare or having to choose between paying the mortgage or paying for a doctor bill. I think the Democrats are starting to see now that they lost the ACA benefits, it’s forcing their hand at a higher level.”

In order to fund universal health care or restore the cuts to Medicaid, the ACA or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, the former firefighter wants billionaires like Jeffrey Yass to start paying their fair share. 

“ If the billionaire class just paid a portion, just paid their share of taxes…it would help fund social security, it would help fund SNAP benefits, it would put the ACA back in place. Like you can’t just cut programs and not have a replacement.”

Since launching his campaign, Brooks has garnered support from Democrats across the ideological spectrum with Gov. Josh Shapiro and US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) backing the former firefighter. He also picked up the endorsement for the Working Families Party, a political third party that helps elect progressives at the local, state, and federal levels.

Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk believes that Brooks’ working class background will connect with voters throughout the Lehigh Valley and ultimately propel him to victory over Mackenzie in the fall. 

“ I’m personally supporting Brooks because he is a guy who knows how to show up for residents here in the Pennsylvania Seven. A lot of the same things that people in Pennsylvania Seven are experiencing, Bob’s been there,” Tuerk said in an interview.

“He is a working man. He knows what it’s like to get up every day, go to work, whether as a firefighter or working in a bar or working a snow and landscaping business.”