With November midterms approaching, all eyes are on Pennsylvania. PA-07 is the ultimate swing district in a swing state, and the outcome of its congressional race will be crucial in determining whether Democrats will retake the House.
Bob Brooks has worked as: a dishwasher, short-order cook, bartender, landscaper, warehouse worker, pizza delivery driver, firefighter, and a union leader. Now, he is a candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania’s seventh district.
Speaking from his experience of being an American worker across several industries, Brooks sits down with Tim to talk about real affordability and healthcare issues that impact Pennsylvanians and Americans across the country.
Bob Brooks is the Democratic nominee for Congress in PA-07. He previously spent 20 years as a firefighter and served as the union President of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association.
The following transcript has been edited for formatting purposes.
Tim Dickinson
Hey, this is Tim Dickinson for the Contrarian. Our guest today is Bob Brooks, who is running for Congress in Pennsylvania. Bob, welcome!
Bob Brooks
Hey, Tim, how you doing? Thanks for having me.
Tim Dickinson
So great to have you. Introduce your district to us. We got a lot of national races. People have a hard time zeroing in on the place, but help us understand the place that you come from.
Bob Brooks
Gotcha, so this is Pennsylvania 7, so it’s about an hour and 20 north of Philly, and about an hour and 20 west of New York. We’re, like, right at the tip here. We have Northampton County, Lehigh County, Monroe County, piece of Monroe County, and all of Carbon County. So, Jim Thorpe, Allentown, Bethlehem, and You know, those are the, those are the main characters. Easton City too. So we have some, you know, three, four bigger cities.
Tim Dickinson
What makes your district great?
Bob Brooks
People. The people I live in, the people that I’ve been representing as a firefighter for the last 20 years, in Bethlehem, the people around here of all different, you know. organizations and just the people itself are working-class people, and I, you know, that’s the kind of person that I am, so I think I just… we fit right in, and we’re running to represent them.
Tim Dickinson
Well, tell us about your background. You’re a firefighter running for Congress, which is an unusual resume. Help us understand how you got into this position.
Bob Brooks
I listen, so not only am I a firefighter, which is the best job I’ve ever had. It’s the best job in the world, to be honest with you. Every day you wake up, you go to work, you can help somebody on their worst day, which is something I’ve experienced as a kid. My house burned down. So I kind of know what people, what people feel when things are going bad and, and I’m. Offer that different perspective to it. But, I’m also a union leader, so I have been a union leader within Bethlehem Firefighters Local 735 for all 20 years that I was a fireman. And then I became the president of the state of Pennsylvania, which is the Pennsylvania Professional Firefighter Association, where I started making relationships with legislators that I had to work with in Harrisburg. And that’s kind of… that’s kind of how we got in here, but really, I have… I’ve never been quiet, and I love to tell people how they should be doing it, right? So, I got… that’s how I got into union, that’s how I got into leadership, is like, we should be doing it this way, great, you’re in, you’re doing it. And, you know, I guess it got me here. I have some good friends. Governor Josh Shapiro’s supporting me in this campaign, and Chris Deluzio, amongst, you know, a bunch of other ones. But those guys, you know, had some conversations, and I decided I was tired of being kicked in the teeth. So, I got up. Decided we were doing it, talked to my wife, talked to my family, and I have… I have 4 children between me and my wife, 2 and 2. And, they’re… they range from 24 through 32, and my oldest son has two granddaughter… or two daughters, which are my granddaughters, are 2 and 4, and I’m scared… I’m scared for what this world looks like for them. So, if Grandpa’s not willing to fight, who’s gonna?
Tim Dickinson
Talk to us. The working class perspective is not well represented in Congress, if I can say that in an understated matter. So what does it mean to you to be able to bring that, you know, working class perspective into a place like Washington, D.C?
Bob Brooks
I think I offered a perspective that a lot of the people are feeling and that’s, we can’t afford anything right now. Things aren’t always good for us. ‘cause we always gotta work, you know, not just one good job, but we gotta have two, three, possibly four good jobs. I’ve done that my entire life. Work to pay the bills. And, like you said, we’re not really well represented there. 60% of America is from the working class, while 2% of Congress is there. So, who’s making the laws? us, nobody. And that’s what I want to do. I’ve been doing that for my members for 20-plus years as a union leader. I just want to expand that out. I’m constantly working for better… better wages, better working conditions, and better pay. And, if we can fix some of that, we’re fixing a lot of good things, for just a regular, everyday person.
Tim Dickinson
And the union perspective in particular is not well represented in Congress. What does that experience and the positive impact of a union, how does that shape your thinking about what Congress can do?
Bob Brooks
I think… It’s about time that the regular everyday person, a working class person, gets back involved. And you’re seeing this throughout the country. There’s a lot of people that are running for office right now. They’re very similar to me in that they’ve been working their entire lives, and we’re tired of being pushed around. We’re tired of people making rules. for things that don’t involve us. We want rules made to make our lives better, and that’s what I’m representing. The whole Lehigh Valley in Carmen County that I just mentioned. That’s all people that are just like me, that are just, you know, they get up and go to work every day. They put the pants on, they go out the door, and they go to work to make a paycheck, just so they can pay the bills, and that’s not covering the bills anymore. So they’re really, really looking for somebody. I think they can see themselves in me, and I can see myself in them, and I just want to go represent them.
Tim Dickinson
Now, paint us a contrast, if you would, between yourself and your opponent in this race.
Bob Brooks
There’s a good contrast. It’s a stark contrast, to be honest with you. So I’ve been working my entire life. I’ve been working since I was 10 years old. I had a paper route, worked in some school supply factory, did some prep cooking. That was before I graduated high school, so when I graduated high school and moved to Pennsylvania, my house burned down when I was a senior. Moved to Pennsylvania to rebuild and restart with my mom. She was a single mother. We were in North Adams, Massachusetts, when all, you know, before I graduated. Moved down here in ‘92. I went right to work again, and I’ve done beer truck driving, I own my own small business, which is snow plowing and lawn care. So, like, I’ve been working my entire life. Brian McKenzie’s never had a job. He went from Harvard to the State House to Washington. So, quite honestly. It’s a real big thing for me to make this guy fill out his first application. Ha.
Tim Dickinson
Where have you seen him, I guess, where have you seen that lack of real-world experience show in his approach to governing, on behalf of his constituents, your constituents?
Bob Brooks
He’s voted for higher gas prices six straight times. He’s voted for the war in Iran six times. So he knows what’s that what that’s doing to the people here. He knows what’s happening. I had to deal with Ryan McKenzie as a state rep. When we’re trying to get bills passed. So I’ve gotten some bills passed in Harrisburg. The biggest one is called post-traumatic stress injury for first responders. So it gave our responders the opportunity to go off of work, get help for mental mental health, and then go back to work. And he fought me on that. He fought me on that for years. Actually, he told me it was just my job to find dead people. I was like, holy smokes. This guy just doesn’t get it. He is out of touch with reality. And we’re seeing it still. He voted for the big beautiful bill, which made all kinds of cuts, SNAP benefits, Head Start. Like, all the things people need, he just cut it. And, because he doesn’t need it, he’s never lived a life, he’s never actually had to go to work to pay the bills, or work a second job to pay the bills. This guy has no idea what the people around here are feeling.
Tim Dickinson
And what are your priorities? What do you hope to actually be able to move the needle on once you’re in Congress?
Bob Brooks
Well, I’d really like to fix the health care system because I think it’s dramatically broken and the prices are skyrocketing. We gotta start putting some caps on some things to keep people’s pockets full with the money that they earn. I really like the PRO Act. I think we should pass the PRO Act. Being a union guy that I am and a union leader, I believe everybody should have the right to organize. I’m not saying they have to. But they should have the right to organize. So that’s a really big thing for me. I could really throw a laundry list at you of things that have gone wrong through life that I don’t think people should have to go through. The healthcare thing in my life. My wife had to have a hip replacement. Two, both sides. So, at one point in time, I had to make a decision if I was going to pay the medical bills or pay the mortgage. I had to pay the medical bills to get the other hip fixed, right? So, like. You just… People shouldn’t have to make those decisions, so I really, really would like to dig in and help. You know, in the medical area. And I also think schooling and education is a problem with what’s going on right now. I just watched my son come out of a Penn State satellite campus with over $105,000 of student debt, and they want to charge him 19% interest rate on that. So, you know, I was able to get a low interest loan, private loan for him, but not everybody has that opportunity. So these kids, our country should not be getting rich off our, our children’s backs.
Tim Dickinson
There is, there is a… Just in my lifetime, the American deal has sort of gotten reversed, where so many people trying to sort of take advantage and drain people dry rather than provide them opportunities to lift them up. You know, I wonder, just, can you speak to that?
Bob Brooks
When I was 26 years old, I was a a truck driver. and my wife at the time worked in the insurance industry for one of the hospitals. We were able to buy our house. Mind you, that house was $105,000, like my son’s student loan debt, right? And, and I… I was able to do the American dream, the American deal, you know, as you call it. We were able to do that. These kids can’t do that right now. They’re not looking to buy their first house until they’re 40 years old, according to statistics. So, it used to be 26, now it’s 40. That’s that’s not good time to start a family and to get your life rolling. They should be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel long before that age.
Tim Dickinson
What does your path to victory look like? How do you turn out your folks?
Bob Brooks: Well, it’s about showing up. It’s about being in people’s faces. It’s about talking to them and listening. That’s the key thing, and I think a lot of people stopped listening. We’re gonna listen to our constituents, and we’re gonna go represent them. We’re gonna hear what their problems are, and we’re gonna go try and fix those problems. And that’s what the job of a congressperson is. And we’re not getting that right now. You know, I see down in Emmaus area, one of the corners of the district here, they have signs on the telephone poles, picture of Ryan McKenzie, and it says missing underneath his name. So like I don’t have nothing to do that, but I think it’s hilarious. You know, but this guy doesn’t show up until it’s picture time. You know, so… and it’s picture time now, it’s election time. That’s… our path to victory is being out with the people, talking to every community. We have such a diverse area here, and we’re talking to every community, every chance we get the opportunity, and that’s what they’re looking for. They just want to see authenticism. And if I can be authentic, which I have no problem being, I have a big problem being somebody I’m not. And sometimes that’ll get me in trouble, I guess. But, you know, if if we just show up, that’s all people are looking for.
Tim Dickinson
It’s been a pleasure speaking to you. Do you have any other thoughts or, you know, policy ideas that you want to make sure that we cover before we say adieu?
Bob Brooks
doesn’t, I think… in our area, in Allentown specifically, the Latino vote was huge. We’re reaching out to that community. We’ve been doing it now for over a year and a half since I got into this. We knew it was immediately an issue that we had to get into. We’re getting on the Mega Radio around here. Victor Martinez is a great, great friend. Matt Turk we have in our corner, and along with some other people, Cynthia Mota. And Nestor Tatis, like, we have some really good leaders, so we’re working. In that community to let them know there is somebody here that cares about them. But at the same time, it’s about time we take this house back and we stop the nonsense that’s going on. And, we’re gonna start it right here. The tip of the spear is in PA seven, and we’re gonna go get it.
Tim Dickinson
And how can people get in touch with your campaign?
Bob Brooks
So we’re at brooksforcongress.com. We have all kinds of information on there. The kids that I have working for me do a fantastic job running my website, and if you’re interested in… if you’re interested in knocking doors, or doing phone calls, or you want to make a contribution to the campaign, I hate the money that’s in politics, and I think that’s something that should have to change, campaign finance reform. But, unfortunately, it’s where we’re at right now, and we have to compete, and we have to stay on TV. So, if somebody’s interested in contributing, there’s a link on there also.
Tim Dickinson
All right, well, this is Bob Brooks, candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania 7th. Maybe we’ll see you back here as Congressman Bob.
Bob Brooks
Awesome. Thanks, Tim, I appreciate it.
Tim Dickinson
Appreciate your time.
Bob Brooks
Alright, have a good day.
Tim Dickinson
Bye.
