It’s one of the more unusual campaign videos we’ve seen in the Commonwealth since then Tomek Wilk he spent time driving around the state in his Jeep.
Democratic candidate for the 7th Congressional District Bob Brooks published a video in which he explains why he entered the political arena for the first time. While driving your snowplow. After salting.
“I’ve been working since I was 10, and it’s legal – it’s not just history,” he says behind the wheel. “I was a newspaper boy. I had a 2.5-mile paper route. I tried working in some kitchens, I worked as a bartender, I drove trucks, I delivered beer, I delivered pizza. Snowplow driver, baseball coach – you name it, we did it.”
“I think that’s what set the tone for this campaign. It’s literally: I’m working. This is what I’m doing. I’m working.”
Brooks, president of the Pennsylvania Professional Firefighters Association, is one of four candidates seeking the Democratic nomination along with a former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswellformer Northampton County Executive Lamont McClureand director of energy Carol Obando-Derstine.
The winner of the May 19 primary election will face the freshman Representative Ryan Mackenzie in the fall general elections.
“2% of Congress is working class. Meanwhile, 60% of the country is working class,” he says. “The people of Washington haven’t lived a life like this – they’ve never experienced financial hardship. In Pennsylvania, the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Tell me who can survive on $7.25 an hour. So how would they know how to deal with it?”
The 106-second video shows Brooks speaking directly to voters from his truck after finishing driving on salt ahead of the upcoming winter storm.
“Working-class people get nothing out of Washington. They get lies,” Brooks said. “That’s all they get. It’s time to change it. There’s no turning back. We’re going full speed ahead – only on the gas, no brakes.”
In a poll sponsored by the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, Brooks had a seven-point lead over his closest competitor in the race for the Democratic nomination
He received 24 percent support in a poll of 400 likely voters in the Lehigh Valley. McClure was second with 17 percent, and Obando-Derstine and Crosswell were next with 12 and 9 percent, respectively.
Cook Political Report he assesses the PA-07 fight in the fall as a drawwhile Democrats are looking for four seats they can flip to regain a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Brooks was recently added to DCCC’s “Red to Blue” program, which supports candidates through fundraising and organizational support.
The Congressional Latino Caucus was not joyful that the DCCC stepped in to make these moves just two weeks before the Pennsylvania primary.
“Latino votes and candidates – how Garish (Villegas, California) i Carol (Obando-Derstine) – they are not a small factor in the fight for a majority in the House; play a key role in this,” said the BOLD PAC chairman Representative Linda Sánchez (D-California).
“The Democratic Party has clearly made progress in gaining the trust of Latinos, but we still have a long way to go and we will be with Randy and Carol every step of the way through their primary elections.”
