Firefighter Bob Brooks Wins Democratic Primary for Pennsylvania’s 7th District
Union leader Bob Brooks defeated three rivals in a costly Democratic primary to challenge GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie this fall.
ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA — Firefighters union president Bob Brooks secured the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District following a competitive primary race.
Brooks captured 42% of the votes in the Lehigh Valley district, according to unofficial results. The Associated Press called the race for Brooks around 10 p.m. in what became a four-way contest that drew millions in spending from a mysterious dark money political action committee.
Primary Race Results
Brooks prevailed over three other Democratic candidates in the heated primary. His opponents included Ryan Crosswell, a former U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor; Lamont McClure, an attorney who served for the last eight years as Northampton County executive; and Carol Obando-Derstine, an engineer and former U.S. Senate staffer.
The victory sets up a general election battle in one of the nation’s most competitive congressional districts. The 7th District covers Lehigh and Northampton counties and parts of Carbon and Monroe counties in eastern Pennsylvania, including the cities of Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, which comprise the commonwealth’s third-largest metro area.
National Democratic Support
Brooks entered the race with backing from the national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which targeted the 7th District among four in Pennsylvania and more than 40 across the country to flip Republican-held seats and win a majority in the House.
The endorsement provided Brooks with significant organizational support in a district that political analysts consider one of the swingiest in the nation. Despite including reliably red Carbon County, the district’s other counties have shown varying political preferences in recent elections.
District’s Political Landscape
The 7th District demonstrates the complex political dynamics of eastern Pennsylvania. Lehigh, Monroe and Northampton counties voted for President Donald Trump in both 2016 and 2024, but swung back to elect Democrats at the top of the ballot in intervening years.
The seat changed hands from Democrat Susan Wild, who won her fourth term in Congress in 2022, to Mackenzie, a one-term state representative, in 2024. This year, Wild endorsed Obando-Derstine for the Democratic nomination.
Obando-Derstine, an immigrant who moved from Columbia with her parents as a child, worked for Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey as a regional manager and Latino Affairs director for the state. She currently works for PPL Electric Utilities after earning a master’s degree from Lehigh University in energy systems engineering.
The general election between Brooks and Mackenzie will serve as a test of whether Democrats can reclaim the seat in a district that has become emblematic of Pennsylvania’s competitive political environment.
