Gov. Josh Shapiro, along with leaders from the Working Families Party, made one final push on Sunday to get Bob Brooks, a retired 20-year fire fighter and union leader, over the finish line in Tuesday’s primary election and ready for November’s general election against US House Rep. Ryan Mackenzie.
“ I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of the sycophants,” Shapiro told Brooks supporters in Emmaus on Sunday. “Ryan Mackenzie is a profoundly and pathetically weak human being who can’t stand up to this president. But you know who will stand up to him? Bob Brooks will stand up to him.”
He added: “ Bob Brooks is a guy who, with his working class background, understands what real people are dealing with, isn’t afraid of anybody, and he can bring people together to get stuff done.”
In the final days of the campaign, Lean Left PAC, a Republican-linked super PAC, has poured over $1 million into Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional Primary race with the hopes of stopping Brooks’ campaign in its tracks.
Lean Left PAC was created at the end of April and is incorporated out of a Staples in Tallahassee, Florida, according to the Federal Election Commission, and Punchbowl News reported that the political action committee’s website is connected to WinRed, a Republican political fundraising platform.
Brooks has assembled a broad coalition of support for his primary race with endorsements from Shapiro, US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and more than a dozen labor unions and progressive organizations.
“ I think they’re afraid of a working-class person,” Brooks said of Republicans’ decision to spend against him in the primary. “I think they’ve been voting against us for years, and they’re gonna continue to do that. They don’t want to see a working-class guy run against their boy in the general.”
During his campaign, Brooks set out a progressive agenda, callingfor universal healthcare, taxing billionaires, and restoring cuts to the Affordable Care Act. He’s also been credited with helping push Shapiro and the Pennsylvania General Assembly to fund post traumatic stress disorder treatment for firefighters and first responders.
“ I know who I call when there’s a disaster. I call a first responder, I call a firefighter in order to deal with the disaster, and if I can’t find a firefighter, I call a union organizer,” said Maurice Mitchell, National Director of the Working Families Party.
Mitchell added: “The reason why the Working Families Party is fighting so hard to make sure that Bob Brooks could come to Congress is that we believe more than ever that we need fighters, working families champions, that will hold the line and make sure that we could afford our communities, that we could afford healthcare, childcare, in the richest country in the history of the planet and send that money into our communities.”
