Bob Brooks, a retired firefighter and union leader who amassed support from both moderates and liberals, won the Democratic primary on Tuesday in a battleground district in Pennsylvania, according to The Associated Press.
Mr. Brooks will face Representative Ryan Mackenzie, a Republican, in a general election contest in a Lehigh Valley district north of Philadelphia that is anticipated to be one of the most competitive in the country this fall.
Mr. Brooks earned the endorsements of both outsider progressives, such as Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, as well as the establishment, including Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. His campaign was seen as one of the most prominent efforts by the party this year to elevate working-class candidates at a time when Democrats have been accused of losing touch with everyday Americans.
Despite his broad base of support, Mr. Brooks faced a crowded primary. His opponents included Lamont McClure, a former county executive; Ryan Crosswell, a former federal prosecutor; and Carol Obando-Derstine, an engineer.
Mr. Crosswell raised $1.7 million, while Mr. McClure’s campaign was bolstered by a late push from a super PAC with ties to Republicans, in an apparent effort to help the candidate Republicans believed would be easiest to defeat in the fall.
Mr. Brooks, who leads a prominent Pennsylvania firefighters’ union and runs a lawn care and snow removal business, has emphasized his working-class background throughout his campaign.
He generated controversy when he told a group of college students that Mr. Shapiro had asked Mr. Brooks’s union to back a Republican candidate for state treasurer rather than her Democratic opponent, who had criticized Mr. Shapiro. The comment, reported by Axios, prompted Mr. Brooks to backtrack and Mr. Shapiro to deny the claim.
At his victory party at a bar in Bethlehem, Pa., Mr. Brooks thanked Mr. Sanders and Mr. Shapiro for their endorsements, and pledged to represent blue-collar Americans if he is elected in November.
“I know what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck,” Mr. Brooks, a union leader and former firefighter, told the crowd. “Only 4 percent of Congress comes from the working class. You can say you stand with working people all you want, but if you’ve never lived that life, it’s like coaching a sport you’ve never played.”
