ICYMI: El ‘Bombero’ Bob Brooks Launches Latino Coalition in the Lehigh Valley

Joined by community leaders and elected officials, Bob reiterated his commitment to be a voice for the Latino community in Congress. As Latino voters across the country face sky-high prices, health care cuts, and attacks on their communities, leaders like Bob are stepping up to fight for the community.

The DCCC has also rolled out a six-figure bilingual campaign across digital and Spanish-language radio targeting Latino voters in PA-07.

See below:

• “Bombero Bob” in Spanish Radio
• “Resume” in English and Spanish Digital
• “Broken Promises” in English and Spanish Digital

Read and watch more:

Politics en Espanol – US: El Bombero Bob – Bob Brooks

Host Victor Martinez: “… We have invited Congressman Mackenzie to come and talk to our audience. We have reached out to his office… I’ve actually asked my audience to call his office and ask him to come, but we haven’t received an answer…”

Bob Brooks: “What [I’m] going to do different is be a working class candidate, be a working class congressman, like you said. I’ve called you before the primary. I called you after the primary. We’re sitting here at your show. I’m going to continue to show up. I’m going to show up, and Victor Martinez is going to have a part in this because you are a leader of this community, and I appreciate the efforts that you bring… I’ve been here all along, and I’m going to continue to stay here, and I’m going to continue to listen to my constituents because I believe that is the job of a congressman is to hear what the constituents are saying, have an open door policy so they can bring their concerns to me, and then it’s my job to go fight for them.”

Politico: Pennsylvania’s Latino bloc party

• BOB’S BLOC PARTY: Republicans and Democrats are locked in a duel to win Latino voters in the midterms and beyond. In Allentown, Pennsylvania, Bob Brooks is getting the block together to see if he can show Democrats how to pull it off.
• Brooks’ campaign is launching a network of local Latino leaders, organizers and media personalities — the “Bombero Bob” coalition — who’ll campaign for the firefighter-turned-candidate aiming to flip Pennsylvania’s 7th District. Latino voters in the toss-up district make up nearly 23 percent of the electorate and could tip the scales for either Brooks or GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie.
• The coalition is bringing together a bunch of local names who’ll do a mix of door-knocking and targeted events, fit with a new cartoonish logo, according to details shared first with Playbook. Among Brooks’ Latino lieutenants are Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk, Lou Jimenez who heads up the local Bethlehem firefighters union, Cesar Nieves from the local service members union and Victor Martinez, host of Allentown’s local Spanish radio station. They’ve already enlisted SEIU members and Make the Road Action in Pennsylvania to canvass.
• “[Some Democrats] think it’s just all about struggling through some mediocre Spanish,” Tuerk told Playbook. “Instead of trying to drag a Latino voter out to where you’re at and doing what you’re doing — it’s seeing them where they’re at and being with them for what they’re doing, and that’s good. That’s authentic.”
• Brooks has captured some of the energy Democrats are hoping will boost them in November with a laser-focus on the cost of living highlighting his working-man bonafides. The DCCC’s six-figure ad buy in the region includes a spot in Spanish with the opening line: “Bob Brooks has had basically every job that exists.”
• He acknowledged that Democrats bore the brunt of blame for Latino voters’ cost-of-living concerns in 2024. “For a while they were pointing a finger to Democrats. Now they’re saying, ‘Hey, I see a guy who’s lived the life that I’ve lived,’” Brooks said in an interview with Playbook. “I think they can see themselves in me to a point.” (But “obviously, not looks wise,” he added).
• To reach Latinos, the “bombero” is eager to tout yet another hat he wears — as a baseball coach of 30 years — making it an entry point in conversation with Allentown’s community of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. “I watch the Red Sox. I watch the Phillies. They’re loaded with Latino baseball players, and they’re good,” Brooks said, while conceding many in Allentown are also Yankees fans.

The Morning Call: Bob Brooks launches Latino outreach initiative targeting key voting bloc in Lehigh Valley

• Bob Brooks, former firefighter and Lehigh Valley’s Democratic candidate for Congress, is launching a Latino outreach initiative his campaign has dubbed “Bombero Bob.”
• The 7th Congressional District is considered a “toss-up” by Cook Political Report, and one of the handful of House elections that will determine which party takes control of the chamber in 2027. It includes all of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon Counties and part of Monroe County.
• “Bombero” means “firefighter” in Spanish. According to a news release from Brooks’ campaign, members of the “Bombero Bob” coalition, who will serve as ambassadors to the Brooks campaign, include prominent Latino figures in the Lehigh Valley including Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk, Allentown City Council Vice President Cynthia Mota, IAFF Local 735 President Lou Jimenez and LA Mega 101.7FM radio host Victor Martinez.
• “I’m honored to have the support of an incredible coalition of Latino leaders across the Lehigh Valley. My pledge to our vibrant Latino community is simple: I promise to show up, listen, and fight for you and your family just as hard as I fight for my own,” Brooks said in a news release from his campaign.
• Latinos in Pennsylvania’s 7th district are seen as a key voting bloc that could sway the outcome of the election. Republicans made inroads with Latino voters in the 2024 election — 43% of Latino voters voted for President Donald Trump that year compared to 35% in 2020, which proved decisive in electing Trump and other Republicans.
• But recent polling indicates that support among Latinos for Trump has fallen to only 25%, down from a high of 42% in 2025, which Democrats see as an opportunity to sway those voters to vote blue.

WFMZ: Democratic candidate Bob Brooks presents “Bombero Bob” initiative to Latino community

• Democratic Congressional candidate Bob Brooks came to Allentown’s Central Fire Station Wednesday to make a promise to the Latino community before the November election
• “My pledge to this community is simple: I will show up, listen, and fight for you and your family each and every day as your Congressman,” said Brooks.
• His new initiative is “Bombero Bob.” Bombero means “firefighter” in Spanish, and Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk said it’s a slogan they’ll make sure people remember.

NBC Philadelphia: Economy takes focus as candidates court Latino voters in Lehigh Valley

• At a Brooks campaign event in Allentown, signs in Spanish were part of the effort to reach those voters.
• “We’re calling it Bombero Bob or Firefighter Bob,” Brooks said.
• Victor Martinez, who is part of the team backing Brooks, said the candidate needs to continue meeting voters directly. Martinez also owns local La Mega radio station and hosts its morning show.
• “He needs to keep showing up. He needs to knock on those doors. He needs to make sure people know him, they can see him and they can talk to him. That’s what he needs to do. That’s what I told him this morning. He’s doing that, that’s why I’m here,” Martinez said.
• Martinez said economic concerns are among the issues he hears people discussing.

DCCC Spokesperson Bridget Gonzalez:
“In Bob Brooks, the Latino community of the Lehigh Valley will have a fierce advocate who knows what it’s like to work hard every day to support your family and fight for a better future. Since day one, Bob has been showing up for the community and is talking about the issues that actually matter, and he’ll do the same in the halls of Congress.”

###