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You tell me who represents us? A Governor who cancelled his public appearance, probably out of fear of being protested? Or the good folks of Second Baptist Church in Bethlehem? Power brokers doing their self interest, or the base voters of our party? Reject Bob Brooks on Tuesday. Vote for the people.

ADDITION- This came to me late, but is worth noting- Bob “Crooksy” Brooks requested a 90 day extension on his financial report that was due on Friday, in an effort to make sure no one knows the shady Harrisburg and Washington powerbrokers who are trying to buy him a seat in Congress. Not only does he duck public events and live off of dark money, Crooksy hides who his masters are from the public.

Bob “Crooksy” Brooks has centered his entire campaign for Congress around the theme that he is “one of us.” He has simultaneously argued that he is an authentic, working class person because of his jobs as a fire fighter, bartender, and whatever the hell else he claims, but also that he is the choice of the Democratic establishment because he’s endorsed by the Governor, two-time Presidential nomination loser Bernie Sanders, and some other folks that ran for President and got the “not quite” from the voters. It never quite made sense, and it appears as though it didn’t close the deal with Lehigh Valley Democratic primary voters, despite millions in dark money spending intended to push him across the line. It seems likely that a very clear majority will reject the Governor’s pick for this seat on Tuesday, even if he doesn’t lose the primary. God willing though, he’ll lose outright.

This whole dumb campaign has always been about a bunch of outsiders telling us that this long time deadbeat was the “true Democrat” to take on Ryan Mackenzie in the Fall. Bernie Sanders? Not from here. Pete Buttigieg? Not from here. Elizabeth Warren? Not from here. Chris DeLuzio? Five hours away with good traffic. Josh Shapiro? He’s spent more time on the Main Line, because he’s from down there. They all propped up multiple dark money Super PACs and kept endorsing a guy that nobody up here really knew, and let’s be honest, the ones that did, didn’t like him. The lack of endorsements from literally almost anyone in Bethlehem City Hall for this guy, a guy they have negotiated contracts with, across multiple administrations and councils, is deafening. Not one Northampton County state legislator or county elected official, no elected official in Easton, was willing to endorse a labor leader from their back yard, despite the obvious goodwill it would carry from the Harrisburg elites. His only local endorsements at all came from Allentown- a city where his union has a very strong local, and where frankly all the people who endorsed him were recipients of campaign contributions from both him and that local. So basically no one that actually had to deal with Bob, or live around Bob, was willing to back him. It was all outsiders, trying to force us to accept him.

Bob’s case all along though has really been he’s more “one of us” than the others, and that’s why he’ll win. Who is this “us” that he is talking about? For the last four cycles we nominated Susan Wild as our standard bearer in this district. She went to Washington and behaved as a Democrat, mostly voting with the party and not criticizing the party like Bob. And what was his criticism for? Congresswoman Wild went down to Washington and voted to expand health care access, rebuild infrastructure, raise wages, protect Civil Rights, protect women’s rights, protect marginalized communities, and try to make housing more affordable. No, it didn’t all come to pass, but she did all you can do as one member of Congress, she supported our Democratic values. Bob does not support our Democratic values. He thought Barack Obama sucked as President. Why? Did he dislike the Affordable Care Act, Dodd-Frank, killing Osama Bin Laden, saving the automobile industry, executive action on the DREAM Act, ending the Iraq War, or which of Obama’s many achievements as President? I’d love to know. Or was it just that Barack Obama was a Black man? I can only ask that because Bob also expressed his dislike of Colin Kaepernick after he protested against police brutality towards Black people, which well, is pretty racist. Those aren’t Democratic values. Bob chose to defend guns and call for school prayer with the ultra right-wing III’ers in response to a mass shooting in majority Latino El Paso at a Walmart. Bob definitely didn’t share our Democratic values there. When it’s been time to be a good Democrat, “Crooksy” has been consistently absent. After his international union decided to not endorse Kamala Harris, “Crooksy” declined to do so at the state level. As a union leader, he has funded election denying, anti-women’s right to choose Republicans and given them political cover. In a moment where he thought he was safely talking to college students recently, he admitted that he backed current Republican Gubernatorial nominee Stacy Garrity for State Treasurer because Governor Shapiro asked him to in 2024, showing that he’ll do whatever for his powerful masters, even screw over the Democratic voters who nominated that candidate. I guess that access was worth giving up whatever values and beliefs Deadbeat Bob claims to have. I think we can safely say though that his values are a lot different than most of our’s. The last person we nominated for Congress never behaved or spoke this way. She came prepared to discuss the issues and policies impacting our lives, unlike Bob.

So who is the “us” they are talking about. I’m going to be honest, I don’t think it’s anyone. I’ll say something nice for a moment about our friends and neighbors who chose to register as Independents and Republicans- they don’t live their lives like Bob, they’re better than that. “Crooksy” made the decision a long, long time ago to literally stiff his family for a buck. Over 20 years ago he accepted a $55,000 loan (he calls it a gift, but…), which in 2008 he signed a promissory note to pay back each month. He paid back $100 and not a dime more for the next decade. Whatever he and his ex-wife want to say (by the way, she still owes that money too according to the court ruling, so I wonder why she’s defending him?), if they disputed that they owed the money, they never should have signed the note. Then she sued him, and won, at the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas. He appealed, arguing that she waited too long to sue him, and the Superior Court of Pennsylvania rejected his argument, and ruled in her favor. That was in 2022. He still hasn’t paid a dime of that money, instead “quit claiming” the property to his new wife, who has the exact same damn name as his old wife, save for one letter. He really thinks he can run away from a contract that he signed. He goes so far as to exclude it as a debt on his ethics filing with the House of Representatives, which prompted an ethics complain being filed against him. Look, I obviously have some deep differences with my Republican and Trump voting friends and neighbors, I worked for Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. I would not talk to them, much less still be their friends or acquaintances, if I thought they were such a deadbeat that they would try to stiff their family out of money and then lie it away to the world. This guy claims he’s a family man on his website. We all know the Republicans will rip that to shreds if we nominate him, and frankly they would be right in this case. The number of people in “Crooksy’s” version of “us” is limited to people who would scam family members out of money they loaned them to help them start out. That’s frankly a very, very small “us.”

Bob doesn’t really even deny anything. With him, it’s always “well there’s more context,” or “it’s complicated” kind of double speak going on. He hides, his campaign and supporters try to intimidate people, and he repeats Josh Shapiro’s name five times every time someone tries to call him on the carpet for his choices. When some outside group comes in to hold him accountable, he just cries it’s “MAGA,” without offering out any evidence either way. The guy truly thinks he should be given a pass to everything, as if he’s something great. I get that he’s a narcissist, but I’m more disappointed with those who have defended him. They know this guy is unworthy of the office of Congressman, which is an amazing thing to say in these days and times, quite frankly. The support this man has received is bootlicking at the highest of levels, done by people who value their place in the party and the favor of the Harrisburg and Washington establishments above all principle and Democratic values. It’s gross. We don’t have to defend the indefensible. There are decent people running as the other options. This man is not one of us, he is not worthy of our support.

So what is Bob Brooks, who is the “us” they speak of? Basically a bunch of consultants in DC decided after 2024 that the coalition of people who voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris was insufficient, and needed to be replaced. They are willing to sell our values out and try to appeal to people who oppose our values, figuring that we’ll just stay in line anyway because of Donald Trump. They might be right about how Democrats will behave. They’ll be wrong though, maybe in 2026, maybe in 2028, or who knows, but most people don’t consider themselves an “us” with a guy who stiffs his mother-in-law and behaves like a narcissist when called on it. Most people, even people with issues with their family and money, don’t go seeking out to scam them out of money. In the not distant future, whether it’s Tuesday night or in the next few years, people will discard Bob for the disloyal person he is. With him, it’s not just a story, it’s who he is.

I have said who I will vote for on Tuesday. I have expressed my distaste at different points for one other. I am willing to say though, unequivocally that I would vote for Lamont, Carol, or Crosswell in the Fall if they are nominated. Lamont and Carol are actual Democrats from here, and I am at least satisfied that Crosswell will be an improvement on Mackenzie at this point. Bob would be a low point in politics that I am not willing to accept. I hope that on Tuesday we reject this attempt to force a fundamentally flawed person down our throats, and re-think the party values that got us to this point. Join me in voting to reject opportunism, bigotry, narcissism, lies, and bootlicking. Vote no on Bob Brooks and his lifetime of opposing “us” every time it mattered.

I do not plead the fifth here. It’s been up for a bit now, but here it is for all of you.

Nothing screams transparency more than a text with no “paid for by.” Of course, Bob “Crooksy” Brooks is unclear about who he was bought by- the mother-in-law he ripped off, the Governor/Sugar Daddy backing him, Socialist Bernie, his dark money super pac, Fetterman’s advisors, or the DCCC person that found him from the Harrisburg Swamp. Deadbeat Bob doesn’t mind taking anyone else’s money, but figuring out the disclaimer can be kind of hard until you do.

Crooksy is the most bought and sold politician running possibly anywhere in the country. The man of no ideas or thoughts is running to be a tool of, well… everyone. His super pac with it’s nearly $1.4 million of dark money is trying to fight back now that Lead Left is making sure people know about him. Deadbeat Bob doesn’t like when people see who he is. He thinks that if he and one of the geniuses that blew Pennsylvania for Kamala Harris tell you it’s Republican money, you should believe him. Golden rule with Crooksy- never, ever believe him. Never let him behind your back either.

I’ve spent most of this election cycle telling you who I’m not going to vote for in our Congressional race. There’s a reason for that- I think one of the candidates is genuinely a bad human being, unworthy of anyone’s vote, and potentially another Fetterman. There is a second candidate who is somewhere between being a true Republican and being someone who maybe lacks a true set of core values, based on their life decisions. Under no circumstances will I ever vote for Bob Brooks to be anything, he is that awful in general. If Ryan Crosswell is nominated, I’ll vote for him, but I do think remaining a Republican after January 6th and working for a union busting law firm is negative. I will vote for him if nominated though, as he’s better than Mackenzie.

That left two candidates, and while I was decided very early, I will say they’re both fine. I would be enthusiastic about voting for Carol Obando-Derstine if she were nominated for Congress. She has a wonderful life story, an impressive educational background, and previously served in Senator Casey’s office. She’s a solid Democrat and we’d all be proud if she represented us. She is new to running for office and I think this race has been difficult for her. Even so, I expect her to get a healthy number of votes next week and be a factor in the race. A solid majority of our primary electorate are women, and they will consider a qualified woman candidate.

I’m going to vote for Lamont McClure though. I was there pretty early and I haven’t really changed my mind on it. There are two reasons, and only two reasons for my vote, and I’m going to lay them out as clearly as possible here.

1. Lamont is where I am on policy and did what he said he’d do as Executive. When he ran for Executive in 2017, he said he would do three things- not raise taxes, keep Gracedale County owned, and preserve Open Space. He did those three things. There are critics of his terms as Executive, as there should be, and most of them are mad that he didn’t do other things that they wanted him to do. He did the things he ran on though. He’s a political moderate that fits right in the mainstream Democratic Party positions on core issues like guns, reproductive rights, civil rights, labor rights, and the environment. This is where I believe the country needs to be right now. I really don’t want to make the government a Petri dish for far left ideas and to remake the world in a more (white) progressive populist vision. That will not improve our world.
2. Lamont won two comfortable general elections in the most swing county in the district. In theory, Ryan Crosswell is a strong general election candidate. I mean, he literally was a Republican until like a year ago, so how can they call him a leftist? They will call him a carpetbagger though, they will point to the dishonesty in his story for why he’s running, and they’ll make his political change of heart into an argument that he lacks a political core or convictions. Brooks claims he’s a strong general election candidate, but the man is a literal deadbeat and buffoon. Republicans will convince enough voters to not vote for him and hang onto the district. Nobody likes someone who takes from their own family. Furthermore I don’t see him stopping the deterioration of the Democratic share of the vote in Allentown, let alone turning out our suburban, college educated and mostly female base. Carol has never ran before, and while I think she’d appeal more to our base than an ignoramus like Brooks, she’s an unknown there. McClure was elected twice as Northampton County Executive and I believe three times in what was a very competitive county council seat. We pretty much know what Republicans are going to say about him, and the most swing voting county already has passed judgment on that. His critics will point out his poor fundraising in this primary, and look, I don’t love that. Ryan Mackenzie was a poor fundraiser two years ago in his primary too. Once you’re the nominee of either party in this district, you raise a lot of money. Outside spending groups come in to defend you. Leadership PACS from the Hill start funneling money your way. Any of these four will have money in the general election. That shouldn’t even be anyone’s concern.

For these two reasons, I’m voting for McClure. As I said, I’m fine with Carol if she’s the nominee, and I’ll vote for Crosswell, I think he’d be an improvement. Bob Brooks would just be a continuation of the decay of our politics, another step down for the quality of our representation and our politics. I will not defend the indefensible, nor do I think most will by the time the Fall comes around. So I’m voting for McClure. I think if he’s our nominee, we’ll be winning this seat.

We all know that Bob Brooks doesn’t like to pay his debts, he’s not into accountability. Crooksy thinks you can be a racist, or say you hate Barack Obama, or be a gun nut and religious zealot, and even turn a blind eye to political violence, and people should still vote for you in a Democratic Primary. Crooksy thinks his bad behavior is fine, because it’s him. Deadbeat Bob has ethics issues. Big ones. We should ignore those too, though. Just ask Deadbeat Bob. The only reason this imbecile is even a thought in this race is Josh Shapiro, and he threw him under the bus too. Crooksy is the kind of friend you never let behind you.

So a super pac called Lead Left popped up and started running an ad that calls out Crooksy and Ryan Crosswell. They point out that the union that Crooksy leads, the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association, has backed anti-choice, election denying candidates. This is simply true. Crooksy only believes in Democrats when it’s useful for him. Of course he’s crying foul though, because no one can hold Bob “Crooksy” Brooks accountable, not even our courts.

The reason Crooksy thinks you should ignore the ad? It’s “A MAGA super PAC.” Interesting theory. Lead Left is the name of the super PAC, and they indeed did form recently. Because they formed on April 24th, they have not yet had to do any campaign finance filings. There is literally no way to know if their donors are Democrats or Republicans. Of course, folks are buying into Crooksy’s spin and printing his story. But even the source of the original theory has doubts on it. There are several reasons to believe Bob “Crooksy” Brooks is making up the MAGA spin:

1. No one knows who the donors are. They don’t have to report yet.
2. The bank being used to pay for the spots, Amalgamated Bank, is used by Democratic Groups and unions.
3. They’re mostly banking this theory on the fact that OTG Media Group is new. Are they? There is an OTG Strategies that did millions of dollars in business for Kamala Harris and Democrats everywhere in 2024. Their employees also donate to all Democrats. Is this a spin off of that firm? Did they just rename? No idea. Even if it’s not them, we’d need to know a lot more about this firm.

Admittedly, dark money groups make people uncomfortable. I think we all understand that. Is it possible that Republicans decided to come attack the two guys with the most shady cash of their own to muddy them up early with the Democratic base? Possible. There’s not a shred of proof for it though, and it was probably inappropriate for reporters to print a theory. It would seem more likely though that the pac using a liberal bank and a media firm that probably has some ties to a Democratic firm is being funded by Democrats. There are people who have issues with Bob and the Governor within our party and would like to embarrass them. It seems more likely than anything that there are Democrats who know that Crooksy is a deeply flawed, damaged candidate, and Crosswell is a lifelong Republican (including after January 6th), and don’t want us to nominate a damaged nominee that will lose to Mackenzie (at least in Crooksy’s case). Seems a lot more likely than some wild conspiracy theory that Republicans are spending five hundred thousand dollars because they’re afraid of a deadbeat.

Crooksy is afraid. A very, very highly placed source said that when the DCCC polled this race last, McClure had the lead. Suddenly they produced a poll from the Progressive Caucus showing Crooksy ahead (probably a push poll). Then he got put on Red-to-Blue. And *his* dark money super pac is spending over a million dollars to boost him. All of this, and he’s crying about dark money? Give. Me. A. Break.