With the economy being one of the top issues voters in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District care about most heading into November’s midterm elections, former firefighter Bob Brooks, running for Congress as a Democrat,wants to reverse President Donald Trump’s tariffs and end his war in Iran to lower costs.
“Affordability is all we hear about,” Brooks told The Keystone in an interview.
“No matter who we’re talking to, whether it’s the Latino community, whether it’s the community up in Carbon County, whether it’s Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, that’s all they’re talking about is what things cost and, and they can’t afford it.”
Meet the candidates: Ryan Mackenzie and Bob Brooks face off in PA-07
Brooks, a retired 20-year firefighter with the City of Bethlehem and president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association, which represents 7,000 firefighters and first responders across the commonwealth, is running against US Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Lehigh) in November.
A recent report from Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee found that Trump’s tariffs, healthcare cuts, and Iran war have cost Americans an extra $4,200 since he took office in Jan. 2025, but that hasn’t stopped Mackenzie from backing Trump’s agenda.
Tariffs have increased the cost of imported goods and materials, while disruptions related to the Iran war have contributed to higher oil and gas prices.
“ I’m driving my wife’s car all the time now because my diesel pickup trucks cost too much to run,” Brooks, who also owns and operates a landscaping business, explained. “I had to use it the other day, and had to fill it up. It was $160 to fill up this truck just below a half a tank.”
During the campaign Brooks has pegged Mackenzie as “Trump’s lapdog” because of Mackenzie’s ongoing support for Trump’s tariffs and war in the Middle East. He has voted multiple times against limiting Trump’s tariffs and reining in the president’s war powers.
“ People can’t afford that. That’s what they’re looking for change in, that’s how we’re going to fix this economy, [and] that’s how we’re gonna bring prices down is to end this war [and] stop these nonsense tariffs that he just lays on everybody.”
A working-class candidate: Bob Brooks sets progressive agenda
According to his campaign’s website, Brooks wants to tax billionaires, repeal Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and reverse cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that were made in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services estimates that over 17,000 residents living in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District will lose their Medicaid coverage once the cuts go into effect next year, and another 6,000 would lose their SNAP benefits.
”My closing message to the people of Lehigh Valley would be: Do you want the status quo? Do you want a lapdog? Do you want somebody who just continues to vote the way he’s told to vote, or do you want someone that’s gonna go represent you?” Brooks said, making his closing pitch to voters.
“ You either want the status quo or you want change. I offer change. He’s a lapdog for Donald Trump. So that’s the decision that I’m asking them to make.”
