| Firefighter Bob Brooks decisively won the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania’s 7th District despite DC Republicans spending big money to try and stop him.
Pundits and reporters are calling Bob “the perfect candidate for District 7,” “a working-class avatar with unusually broad party appeal,” and “a model for how the party can win back working-class voters.”
The DCCC supported Bob as a Red to Blue candidate early because we know he is going to defeat Ryan Mackenzie in November — a fact even DC Republicans recognize.
See what they’re saying about Bob’s victory for yourself…
Analyst: “Bob Brooks on the Democratic side in Pennsylvania in that Lehigh Valley seat, casting himself as a fighter for the working class.”
Former Rep. Demings: “I do believe that Bob Brooks is the perfect candidate for District 7… Everybody loves firefighters… He just has the absolutely best profile to pull this off in November.”
Cook Political Report: A mysterious super PAC linked to Republicans spent [more than] $1 million to keep firefighter union president Bob Brooks from winning the Democratic primary. But Brooks still won the race by a comfortable 21-point margin.
The New York Times: Get ready to know the name Bob Brooks.
In Pennsylvania’s Seventh District, a consummate swing area in a consummate swing state, the winner of a hotly contested four-person Democratic primary was a working-class avatar with unusually broad party appeal. […] “Democratic primary voters, their elected officials and leaders across the party demand a Democratic Party focused around working people,” said Tommy McDonald, a Brooks consultant. “Someone with Bob’s profile is going to drive a truck over Ryan Mackenzie at the ballot box,” Mr. McDonald added. “A fire truck.”NOTUS: T.J. Rooney, the former chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, told NOTUS that Brooks attracted wide party support because he is a working-class candidate. “He’s lived the life of a lot of people whose voices are sometimes a little bit drowned out in Washington, so he has many of those things that you need to be elected to high office,” Rooney said. “He has a depth of support that’s unique and crosses the Democratic divide in a lot of respects.”
POLITICO: Brooks had more than just Shapiro in his corner. The blue-collar everyman who worked as a bartender and moonlights as a snowplow driver is being held up by an array of Democrats as a model for how the party can win back working-class voters.
LehighValleyNews: His campaign highlighted his blue-collar credentials and his history of picking up odd jobs — bartender, truck driver and teamster to name a few — to put food on the table. Brooks said the Lehigh Valley deserves a candidate who understands first-hand the struggles too many families fight for increasingly expensive housing, utilities, gas and groceries.
Morning Call: Brooks has drawn frequently on his working class upbringing on the campaign trial — [his mother] Jones raised him as a single mom who bartended to make ends meet, according to his campaign website. She spoke through tears as she celebrated her son’s victory Tuesday. “We need someone like him in Washington,” Jones said. “Not just because he’s my kid. Because he’s the right person.”
ABC6: Brooks has excited supporters with his blue-collar bona fides and the chance for him to galvanize working-class Pennsylvanians to support him.
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