Voters living in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District have the opportunity to play an outsized role in deciding who controls the US House in November’s election between Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Lehigh) and retired firefighter Bob Brooks.
After Mackenzie defeated former Rep. Susan Wild (D) by a percentage point in the 2024 election, political forecasters view him as one of the most vulnerable lawmakers facing reelection this November. The race is one of three House races categorized as a “toss up” in the commonwealth.
Here’s a look at the candidates:
Bob Brooks
Brooks, a retired Bethlehem firefighter with 20 years of service, is president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association (PFFA), which represents nearly 7,000 firefighters and first responders throughout the commonwealth.
As leader of the PFFA, Brooks has spent years pushing the state legislature to make it easier for firefighters and first responders to treat post-traumatic stress injuries.
Brooks has been dubbed “the candidate who wants to have a beer with you” by Politico, and he has called for taxing billionaires, reversing President Donald Trump’s cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and enacting universal healthcare.
Since launching his campaign last year, Brooks has secured endorsements from prominent political figures such as Gov. Josh Shapiro, US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
He’s also secured endorsements from a coalition of moderate and progressive organizations, as well as dozens of labor unions representing workers in the district.
Ryan Mackenzie
Mackenzie, a freshman lawmaker in Congress, previously spent 12 years serving in the Pennsylvania House before getting elected to the US House in 2024.
While serving in the state legislature, Mackenzie sat in the House Labor and Industry Committee where he supported over a dozen bills aimed to turn Pennsylvania into a right-to-work state, which would undermine the ability of workers to form unions in the commonwealth.
Since taking office last year, Mackenzie has backed Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cut Medicaid by close to $1 trillion and cut SNAP by $187 billion.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, more than 17,000 of Mackenzie’s constituents will lose their healthcare coverage once the Medicaid cuts go into effect after the elections, and over 6,000 residents will lose their SNAP benefits.
