While billionaires are dumping boatloads of money into Congressional races across the country, Bob Brooks (D), a retired firefighter and union leader living in the Lehigh Valley, says he’s looking to put Lehigh Valley residents first if he’s elected this November.
“ I never envisioned running for public office, but we don’t have enough people in Washington DC who have actually lived this life,” Brooks told supporters at a campaign event in March. “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, who is running against Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Lehigh), was referencing research showing how hard it is for working-class Americans to get elected to Congress as more millionaires occupy the halls of power.
“ 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,” Brooks added.
Brooks, who was a firefighter with the City of Bethlehem for 20 years and president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association, as well as a snow plow driver, landscaper, and youth baseball coach, has campaigned on putting working class residents in the Lehigh Valley ahead of millionaires and billionaires.
Bob Brooks’ plan to bring jobs to the 7th district
Throughout his campaign, Brooks has called for implementing a minimum billionaires tax, reversing the cuts to the Head Start childcare program, raising the minimum wage, passing Medicare for All, and passing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which strengthens collective bargaining rights and makes it easier for workers to form a union.
In order to bring jobs to the Lehigh Valley, Brooks wants to modernize public transportation and reconnect the region via light rail to New York City and Philadelphia, and lower the cost of college tuition while funding apprenticeship programs.
During his campaign, Brooks has received support from Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and a number of progressive and moderate organizations. He’s also been endorsed by the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO and nearly 50 national and local labor unions.
“I’ll fight to fund apprenticeships, vocational programs, and training that get young people into good-paying jobs in manufacturing, construction, and clean energy. This is the kind of work that builds a real middle class,” Brooks said on his campaign website.
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Brooks has also called for ending President Donald Trump’s Iran war and reversing Trump’s cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in order to boost the economy.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, over 17,500 people living in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District are expected to lose their healthcare once the Medicaid cuts from the Big Beautiful Bill take effect following the election, and another 6,000 have lost or are expected to lose their SNAP benefits.
“ We got to reverse the cuts that they already made in the Big Beautiful Bill to start rebounding,” Brooks said in an interview with The Keystone. “And then we gotta look at ending this war and stopping these tariffs and bring things back down on prices.”
