Over the past few weeks, you could feel the momentum moving towards Bob Brooks in the four-way race for the Democratic nomination to the Pa. 07's Congressional District. While the dust is still settling as I write this, it's clear that he is going to be the Democratic nominee against incumbent Republican Ryan Mackenzie.
Brooks, who branded himself as an Everyman, easily defeated three other contenders. He had help. Lots of money. Lots of endorsements, including the Governor and the DCCC. Stories about his MAGA social posts and his refusal to pay a judgment obtained by his mother-in-law for the home in which he lives, did manage to make numerous mainstream news outlets. They weren't enough to overcome the momentum.
At the same time, former NorCo Exec Lamont McClure was unable to gather the funds he needed to be competitive. He lent his campaign $200,000, but that was far from enough. He could usually rely on lots of money from the trade unions, but some of that money went to Brooks, who is President of the Pa. Firefighters' Association. His decision to force Administrator Charles Dertinger to resign over a botched election, hurt him. Dertinger could usually be counted on to raise money for McClure, but I doubt there there was much desire to help in this race. McClure burned a lot of bridges as Executive and was extremely unpopular with county employees. That alone probably cost him about 5,000 votes, to say nothing of 1,600 retirees. Just recently, he called a County Council member's boss in an attempt to encourage her to vote for a tax break to a developer who wanted to build luxury apartments. Though he adamantly denies pressuring this Council member through her boss, he exhibited very poor judgment.
McClure actually came in 4th in Lehigh and Monroe County
Had this race gone on a bit longer (thankfully it did not), I believe Crosseell would have won. He had a terrific ground game and came across as both knowledgeable and sincere to voters suspicious of a former Republican who moved here to run.
Carol Obando-Derstine, the sole woman in the race, should have garnered 17% of the vote simply because she's a woman, and she did. There are some Democrats who are very much into identity politics. According to WFMZ-TV69, she finished with 17% of the vote. In Lehigh County, thanks mostly to Victor Martinez and his Spanish-speaking radio station, she finished with 21.85% of the vote. She even finished second in Monroe County, though the number of voters there was small.
Brooks will go on to face Ryan Mackenzie in November. While I certainly have no intention of voting for Mackenzie, I will NOT be voting for Brooks.
In another closely watched primary for State Rep in Allentown's 22d Legislative District, Ce-Ce Gerlach easily defeated Ana Tiburcio. All the King's horses and all the King's men, from Mike Schlossberg to Peter Schweyer, were unable to overcome Gerlach's campaign hustle.
Northampton County, as usual, had problems. This time, some voters who had received mail-in ballots were incorrectly listed as eligible to vote in e-pollbooks. Perhaps NorCo needs to focus less on pop-up elections and satellite offices and more on ensuring that it can actually do what it is statutorily required to do.
UPDATED 11:00 AM: Incumbent Ryan Mackenzie had this reaction to Brooks' nomination to Pa. 07:
Allentown, PA — The Mackenzie for Congress campaign issued the following statement in response to Democrats nominating Bob Brooks in PA-07.“Tonight, after spending millions of dollars in dark money on his behalf, the Democratic establishment got their hand-picked candidate: con-man and fraudster Bob Brooks. These groups steamrolled local Democrats and hijacked the democratic process in order to nominate a corrupt political insider, a wealthy lobbyist with a vast stock portfolio, and someone who has a record of stealing from his own family. The establishment Democrat machine has done this for one reason: they know that Bob Brooks will follow orders from his political bosses, just like he did as a union boss. The people of the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos will reject this dumpster fire of a candidate," said Mackenzie for Congress spokesman Arnaud Armstrong.“As a result of Brooks’ history of scams and schemes that we heard about throughout the primary, the Mackenzie for Congress campaign is also announcing the launch of the Bob Brooks Hotline. Residents of the community who have been ripped off or targeted by conman and fraudster Bob Brooks - or have other information about his checkered past - can report their experiences by calling (484) 272-4215.”Check the Facts:
39 comments:
Your take on this is moronic. Brooks dominated this field. Charles! could never have saved Lamont, and Crosswell will be moving back to D.C. tomorrow. He’s a Republican who doesn’t live here. Which is why he was never going to win.
You can fool some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time. Timely words for the McClure fanatics. The same enablers were with him tonight. I am no great fan of Brooks, but it is gratifying to see a bully get his componence.
I Doubt McClure will take the Fiscal Affairs head job, since he knows nothing of finance. He will keep his cozy lawyer job and come and goas he pleases.
Brooks was the choice of the establishment despite his anti Obama history. He did win big. But, he received 25k+ votes and there were 35k+ Democrats who did not vote for him. He has to win them over.
Congrats to Bob brooks he will be going to Washington DC for sure! Nothing better to see than spiteful Lamont get dominated in his own county and the race overall, good bye Lamont do not come back the People do not want you!!
Don’t believe a word you read here about Bob Brooks. This blog is full of lies everyday.
Well, you have to give the dems credit. Usually, their reps become crooks after being elected to office. These tools thwarted the process and elected a known crook.
Thank God, McClueless lost!!!!!!! YAH! He's as arrogant as Trump.
ce ce - if that wasn't so sad it would be funny. Latino identity politics
RM will wipe up the floor with crooks
Lamont earned what he got.
Mackenzie’s team has to be happy. The Democrats picked a candidate with a past that Republicans will bring up again and again.
This is a gift. It will be hard to keep the seat but now they have a shot.
All so national democrats could say they have a firefighter running for office.
Brooks is a con man and a fraudster. Ds should keep their powder dry and their options open. Brooks could be in jail by general election day. If he thinks Bernie's keyboard yapping was tough, he hasn't seen anything yet. Makenzie came out of the box throwing haymakers and it's just the beginning.
“There are some Democrats who are very much into identity politics.”
Really? SOME democrats?
The whole party is passed on identity politics and keeping people divided.
WAKE UP!
UNFORTUNATELY, your take on this election is pretty well on target. I don't think anyone could have pulled McClure's chestnuts out of the fire and that includes Dertinger. He sold out his employees, mismanaged the business of the County (Including Gracedale), and was a "bully" as a leader. Cutting taxes wasn't enough. It is going to be extremely difficult for him to recover from this embarrassing defeat. Time will tell.
Crosswell was the best candidate to represent this purple district. We need to open up our primaries because the polarization is just getting worse. This Brooks guy seems like an asshole. Now I’ll have to hold my nose and vote for Mackenzie.
Lamont couldn’t even beat the carpetbagger LOL!
Bernie who are you voting for Congress?
What is happening to our country when people like CeCe Gerlach get elected?? She’s a complete disgrace and belongs no where near the state house.
I'm guessing there are a lot more than 'some' Democrats who are very much into identity politics.
McClure was only interested in his own ego. He threw many of his closest friends under the bus. Wonder what the truth is about Dertinger going? You need to find out what went on. The truth about McClueless needs to come out.
Northampton County executive for 2 terms and he lost his own county! What a disgrace that even the county employees dislike him.
A lot is going to be coming out about Brooks… he is going to have a tough time.
The lack of awareness by democrats is over whelming.
Crosswell spent a shit load of money was all over the airways and lost by a lot, more time would not have helped people convince the wolf in sheep's clothing was a sheep.
You've been talking about Obando-Derstine only having a chance because she's a woman, and that was absurd. Now you say she only got the votes she did because she's a woman, still absurd. Your takes are garbo bro.
Brooks is the moron- a sleezy grifter who was afraid to debate, but had the backing of every left lunatic. McKenzie is now facing the weakest of the bunch. Thankfully, Lamont is finished and the only qualified Candidate in this race, isn't even a Dem and is on his way back to D.C.
Where did McClure place in his home base of Northampton County?
Brooks’ margin of victory was larger than the vote share of any other candidate. He crushed it and won with the largest primary margin in the history of this district
Mackenzie has to be happy that he's now facing this loser.
In NorCo, he placed second with 28.48% to Brooks' 43.70%. He did win his home district with 41.86%.
Sorry Bernie, but you dropped the ball today. The big story from yesterday is Donald Trump, his family and his businesses have been granted immunity from any ongoing audits into their tax affairs, according to a directive by the Department of Justice.
The move on Tuesday came as an addendum to Trump’s agreement a day earlier to settle a $10bn lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over the leak of his tax information to media outlets between 2018 and 2020.
The agreement forever precludes the IRS from investigating Trump and his family for tax fraud.
This is what happens when you appoint your personal attorney as Attorney General.
Bernie is stubborn, but he’s coming around. The Democrat party is now silently ruled by the crazy DSA people. They are in a constant state of perpetual hysteria, you can’t have a fact based policy debate with them. Think Taiba Sultana.
Please stop with the open primary drivel. ANYONE could have registered into the party whose primary they wanted to vote in, up until just a short time before election season started.
Independents are supposedly independent because they don’t want to belong to either party. If they can’t be bothered to do something as simple as registering with one of the parties whose primary they want to vote in, that’s their choice.
They don’t get to have their cake and eat it too.
Krazy Kelly and her side kick Jeff Warren must be crying today lol.
This blog is full of trash. As we speak, Crosswell is headed back to D.C. Murat’s little plan backfired spectacularly.
Bob Brooks was never going to lose. In a Democratic Primary, he had the very popular Governor’s support and 2.2 million to spend. Josh Shapiro and big money won this Primary. Not Bob Brooks.
1:38 - Please explain the Fiscal Affairs job offer as this is the first I’m hearing of it.
I find McClure’s continued involvement with Northampton County government damning to Zrinski.
Zrinski supposedly had nothing to do with McClure contacting a council member’s employer about an issue she supported, so why would she keep McClure around in ANY capacity?
Unless Zrinski is lying and McClure’s call was at Zrinski’s behest.
I’m still waiting for the public statement from Zrinski condemning what happened and saying that she had nothing to do with it. She likely can’t make that statement because she was involved and McClure would bury her with the truth.
Not that it matters, but McClure finished second. But, you’re such a loser you can’t even count.
If Ce-Ce wins in November it is a win for Allentown because she will be gone from City Council. In Harrisburg she will find out how inconsequential she is as Josh Siegel did. That is why he gave up Harrisburg to return to Lehigh County.
He placed second but won his home precinct.
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