Bob Brooks, a firefighters union boss, has been projected to win the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, a region undergoing significant demographic and economic transformation. The victory comes as an influx of people from higher-tax New Jersey and New York, alongside a changing socioeconomic makeup, introduces more liberal and progressive voters into what was once a "Reagan Democrat"-style region rooted in agriculture and union labor.
Brooks secured the nomination despite intraparty controversy stemming from old social media posts. His campaign received endorsements from a broad array of establishment figures, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Further support came from Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, top state Democrats such as House Majority Leader Matt Bradford and Sen. Vincent Hughes, and the mayor of Allentown, the district's largest city.
Demographic Reshaping of the Valley
The district, known locally as “A.B.E.” or “The Valley,” encompasses Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton and has a blue-collar history, famously chronicled in Billy Joel’s anthem about Bethlehem Steel and other firms “closing all the factories down.” The now-blighted SteelStacks serve as a stark reminder of this industrial decline. The "next" phase for the region has included a wave of new warehouses and firms dedicated to interstate commerce, alongside growth tied to the tech sector, fundamentally altering the economic landscape.
Farmland in the northern part of the district is gradually being developed into homes and warehouses, a process that has drawn the chagrin of many longtime residents. This development facilitates the continued influx of new populations, further accelerating the demographic shift that is reshaping the district's political identity and cultural continuity.
Elite Backing and Shifting Loyalties
The primary race saw Brooks compete against former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, and Carol Obando-Derstine, who was endorsed by EMILY’s List and seen as the preferred pick of former Rep. Susan Wild. The consolidation of elite support behind Brooks highlights the institutional forces at play in shaping local representation.
Crosswell, who worked for many years in Washington for the Justice Department, was among several prosecutors who resigned in protest of the Trump administration dropping a federal probe into former New York City Mayor Eric Adams. This detail underscores the deep ideological divisions within the political class, even as they coalesce around certain candidates.
The Cost to the Native Working Class
The district's current boundaries reflect a stark contrast, with the rural, agrarian, or forested and conservative areas becoming more pronounced farther north. Former Democratic Representative Susan Wild drew criticism twice for appearing to insult the Trump-supporting swath of Carbon County, the only one of the district’s three counties entirely within the 7th Congressional District to vote for the Republican incumbent in 2024.
Rep. Ryan Mackenzie of Lower Macungie, the Republican incumbent, was a state representative for many years before upsetting Wild by one percentage point in 2024, the second year ago. Mackenzie has since received praise from President Donald Trump, while facing criticism from the left, whose protesters often gather outside his office. The outcome of the general election in this district, where the House GOP’s narrow majority hangs in the balance, will be closely watched as a bellwether for the ongoing cultural and demographic battles across the nation.