{"id":16715,"date":"2025-12-15T00:46:42","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T00:46:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/shapiro-backs-brooks-in-primary-for-top-dem-target\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T00:46:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T00:46:42","slug":"shapiro-backs-brooks-in-primary-for-top-dem-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/shapiro-backs-brooks-in-primary-for-top-dem-target\/","title":{"rendered":"Shapiro backs Brooks in primary for top Dem target"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is endorsing firefighter union head Bob Brooks in the state\u2019s 7th Congressional District \u2014 the potential 2028 presidential contender putting his thumb on the scale in a crowded primary for a seat that\u2019s among Democrats\u2019 top targets to flip in the midterms.<\/p>\n

Shapiro\u2019s endorsement, shared first with Blue Light News, comes as the governor is plotting an aggressive push to help his party wrest back control of the House by turning as many as four Pennsylvania districts blue \u2014 throwing his weight behind candidates as other governors attempt to nab seats for their parties via redistricting. It\u2019s a strategy that will serve as a major test of Shapiro\u2019s coattails in a critical swing state in 2026, when he\u2019s also up for reelection. And if successful, it could give him a launchpad for a 2028 White House bid.<\/p>\n

Shapiro helped recruit Brooks into the race and is headlining a fundraiser for Brooks\u2019 campaign<\/u><\/a> Thursday in Philadelphia. Brooks is competing in a five-way primary as Democrats attempt to unseat GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who flipped the Lehigh Valley district last year by one of the narrowest margins in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Brooks] is the fighter our friends and neighbors all across the Lehigh Valley deserve in Washington. Throughout his career, Bob has worked hard for the men and women of organized labor \u2014 standing up for higher wages, better healthcare, and safer working conditions,\u201d Shapiro said in a statement. \u201cBob has always had my back \u2014 and I am proud to endorse him in this race and stand with him in the fight to make life more affordable and get stuff done for our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooks called Shapiro\u2019s support \u201ca powerful vote of confidence in our campaign.\u201d Brooks, the head of the statewide Pennsylvania firefighters union, backed Shapiro early<\/u><\/a> in his 2022 gubernatorial bid.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s part of a broader undertaking by Shapiro to remake the state Democratic Party and spearhead its midterms efforts. Shapiro has installed allies atop the state party<\/u><\/a> and funneled cash into its coffers. He\u2019s already endorsed Janelle Stelson in her repeat bid to unseat GOP Rep. Scott Perry in the state\u2019s 10th District, after she lost by barely a percentage point last year. Formal endorsements of Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti and Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie against vulnerable GOP Reps. Rob Bresnahan and Brian Fitzpatrick, respectively, are expected in the new year.<\/p>\n

Brooks has racked up endorsements from across the political spectrum \u2014 from the moderate Shapiro to progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).<\/p>\n

But Shapiro\u2019s endorsement is unlikely to clear a field that has divided Democratic special interest groups<\/u><\/a> and where another candidate, Ryan Crosswell, has so far been the fundraising leader.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is endorsing firefighter union head Bob Brooks in the state\u2019s 7th Congressional District \u2014 the potential 2028 presidential contender putting his thumb on the scale in a crowded primary for a seat that\u2019s among Democrats\u2019 top targets to flip in the midterms. Shapiro\u2019s endorsement, shared first with Blue Light News, comes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16715\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}