Bob Brooks, the retired firefighter challenging Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) for his Lehigh Valley House seat, won on Tuesday night, handing Democrats a pickup in one of the most highly contested races of the 2026 cycle.
Brooks carried Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District with 56.6% of the vote at 10:27 p.m. when the race was called by the Associated Press, compared to 43.4% for Mackenzie, a freshman Republican who represented one of four House battlegrounds in the state.
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The campaign was long expected to be a challenge for Mackenzie, who secured his first term by one of the narrowest House margins in the country in 2024. This cycle, it was one of several dozen Democrats hoped to flip to retake the lower chamber from Republicans.
The race was defined by the same dynamics that made 2026 a difficult year for Republicans nationally, including the war in Iran and concerns over affordability.
It also grew increasingly bitter as millions were spent on negative campaign advertising in the district. Brooks, in particular, was dogged by a legal fight with his ex-mother-in-law over $130,000 in unpaid debt.
Republicans seized on the court battle, which Brooks settled last month, as well as a report that he failed to provide workers’ compensation benefits as a small-business owner. Democrats said the claim was false and defamatory.
In ads, Mackenzie was framed as a “career politician” and tied to his record in Congress and, before that, the Pennsylvania legislature. Among his votes, Democrats framed Mackenzie’s support for last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act as a giveaway to billionaires.
Mackenzie has generally voted with Republicans across his two years in Congress, but tried to highlight his pragmatic streak as a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. Brooks, for his part, leaned heavily into his blue-collar background as a union worker who held various jobs in the service industry.
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Brooks was recruited into the race by Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), who is running for a second term and appeared alongside him multiple times ahead of Election Day.
On the Republican side, Mackenzie held frequent campaign rallies with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).