Brooks Wins Pa. 07 Congressional Race

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.