Bob Brooks told folks he had the support of the Governor. I guess he meant the Lt. Governor. He also claimed Hakeem Jeffries himself wanted him to run. Maybe he meant Deadbeat Bernie Sanders. Then there was his claim that labor was going to run over to support his campaign. I guess he only meant SEIU and his own Fire Fighters union.
I suppose Bobby found some friends though, as you can see in his graphic above- a bunch of State Legislators who don’t live in the 7th Congressional District. You have Representatives and Senators from as close as Mt. Pocono and Scranton, or Philadelphia and lower Bucks County to the South, and as far as from Harrisburg and west of Pittsburgh, and hell, even Erie. What you don’t see is either Democratic State Senator from the Lehigh Valley. You don’t see any of Allentown’s Democratic State Representatives, either of Bethlehem’s, or the one in Easton. You don’t see the Lehigh County Executive, the former Democratic Congresswoman, or any local Lehigh Valley politician. No one here, who actually has to deal with nominating Bob Brooks actually wants to nominate Bob Brooks. He has a laundry list of Democratic politicians from the rest of the state, all of whom are making the political calculation that it’s good politics to support a statewide union President in some other district. I get it. It’s very misleading though. It’s probably helping him raise money, his campaign is claiming to have raised $100k in the first 24 hours, but I’m sure that’s largely from outside of the Lehigh Valley too, like an other candidate.
Maybe the problem for Brooks is too many people in PA-7 know too much. The stakes in the Lehigh Valley are too high to back a candidate who probably won’t be able to defend himself when the Republicans come for him. He calls himself a “family man” on his website, but the conduct doesn’t match the words.
This whole campaign is a John Fetterman styled bait and switch. Run as one thing, be another. Build all kinds of support from people not here, be vague with everything, then be something totally different. Not coincidentally some of the same folks are involved. I have a feeling the disappointment will come earlier this time. There’s a reason they call this man Crooksy.
Well, it was finally time for Bob Brooks to announce his run for Congress yesterday. When this saga all began, there were promises of the Governor endorsing Brooks and calling on everyone else to drop out, as well as a wave of unions switching their endorsements to back Brooks. Instead what we got was the Lieutenant Governor that like 3% of the Lehigh Valley has heard of, the farce of an endorsement from SEIU, Brooks own Fire Fighters union, and a Congressman that was the warm up act for Bernie Sanders in Bethlehem. Oh, and we got Bernie Sanders, the two-time Presidential Primary loser. What a shock. Bernie certainly sees a lot of himself in Bob.
The one area they are a perfect match in is running campaigns to be a spoiler. Long after he had no chance at victory, Bernie Sanders continued his campaign for President in 2016, doing harm to Hillary Clinton. Bob has no pathway to victory in this race, but he’s unwittingly running to throw this race too.
When you get down to it, it makes complete sense Bernie Sanders would pick Bob Brooks to be his candidate in PA-7. It also makes sense that the rest of the JV squad was sent in to endorse instead of the Governor, Democratic Leader of the House, and everyone else they promised. The birds of the feather really did flock together.
Well, let’s try again. This is like the fourth time that Bob Brooks has been set to announce he’s entering the race for Congress. Maybe this time he means it. Then again, now that I’m writing it, I doubt it. But he’s supposed to announce his candidacy today though.
Bob Brooks is president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association and a small business owner. He served more than 20 years as a firefighter and EMT for the city of Bethlehem before retiring in March. He has taken on many public safety leadership positions locally and statewide, including on Governor Josh Shapiro’s transition committee on emergency management as a member of the Pennsylvania State Fire Advisory Board. He has coached many levels of baseball in the community, most recently at Nazareth Area High School. Do you find this a very convincing, somewhat convincing, or not a convincing reason to vote for Bob Brooks?
I dunno, I feel like the buzzwords “firefighter,” “small business,” and “Shapiro” were enough positives, but baseball coach didn’t move anyone? Yet no one seemed to care.
While this seems foolish to me, others disagree. According to reports, SEIU will be endorsing rather quickly in this race. After weeks of claiming the Governor will endorse on day one, reports are now that he will not endorse at all in this race. In the least shocking news of the race, the IAFF will reportedly switch their endorsement to their brother in arms, as they actually should. If you listen to at least one of their leaders though, they’re switching because I was too mean to the guy here. I doubt I actually hurt someone’s feelings if they’re tough enough to run into a fire, but politics is a contact sport. Toughen up, buttercup.
At the top I posted a screenshot of the text message Brooks agreed to send on the behalf of his now opponent, Lamont McClure, endorsing him earlier in this race. One line really stands out for me, because it explains exactly why this cynical candidacy shouldn’t get off the ground:
“I know a thing or two about putting out fires, but the one going on in the Republican-controlled Congress is too big, even for me.”
Philadelphia State Senator Sharif Street has served as the Chairman of the PA Dems since 2022, and was Vice-Chair for four years before that. He recently announced his candidacy for Congress in PA-3, and today he stepped down as party chair.
He wrote the membership:
Dear Member of State Committee:
Today, I’m announcing that I will step down as Chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, effective upon the election of my successor at our next State Committee meeting on September 6, 2025.
This was not an easy decision—but it is the right one. I took on this role to build a Democratic Party that was more inclusive, more united, and more powerful. Over the past few years, I’m proud to say we’ve done exactly that—bringing more voices into the party, building stronger coalitions, and delivering historic victories across the state. Now, as I focus on my campaign for Congress, I believe it’s time to make space for the next chapter of leadership—so our party can continue to grow, win our crucial judicial elections this fall, and then turn toward reelecting our Governor and Lieutenant Governor, flipping congressional seats to take back control of Congress, and defeating Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda once and for all.
I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved together. When I was elected to the State Senate in 2016, the outlook for Democrats in Pennsylvania was grim. Donald Trump carried the state, Republicans held commanding majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, and Democrats were vastly outnumbered in our congressional delegation. That year, I was the only non-incumbent Democrat to win a seat in the State Senate—joining a caucus that had just been reduced to only 16 members, the smallest Senate Democratic caucus of my lifetime. It was clear that if we wanted a different future, we had to organize for it.
That’s why I ran for a leadership role in the Democratic Party in 2018—because I believed we had the power to rebuild, and I knew we couldn’t afford to wait.
During my four years as Vice Chair, we began to turn the tide. In 2018, we flipped key congressional seats and secured a Democratic majority in the U.S. House from Pennsylvania for the first time in years. Then in 2020, after days of national uncertainty, Pennsylvania delivered the decisive votes that sent Joe Biden to the White House—defeating Donald Trump at the ballot box and shifting the direction of the country. I was proud to be an active Vice Chair during that fight, helping to organize and energize our diverse Democratic coalition when the stakes were at their highest
When I became Chair in 2022, we carried that momentum forward and turned it into sustained, historic wins. We helped Josh Shapiro secure a groundbreaking victory—becoming the first Democratic Governor in Pennsylvania history to succeed another Democrat. We flipped a U.S. Senate seat, reclaimed the State House for the first time in over a decade, and made hard-fought gains in the State Senate. In 2023, we swept all four statewide judicial elections—securing our Democratic supermajority on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
2024 was a difficult year for Democrats across the country. Donald Trump carried every major battleground state, and Republicans made gains at the federal level—including here in Pennsylvania. But even as we faced those national setbacks, Pennsylvania Democrats built a firewall in state and local races—defending our one-seat majority in the State House and maintaining our position in the State Senate. Thanks to our investment in local leaders and message-driven organizing, we ended the year with no net losses in the General Assembly and a party infrastructure that proved its staying power.
The next year made clear that our local strength remained intact. In 2025, we flipped a deep-red State Senate seat in Lancaster County during a special election—bringing us to just two seats shy of a majority, the closest Democrats have been to flipping the chamber in a generation. It puts us in our strongest position yet heading into next year.
These victories were no accident. They were built from the ground up—by county chairs, committee members, organizers, and everyday Democrats who gave their time, energy, and heart to this party. My job was to elevate their work—and I was honored to do it.
I want to thank Governor Josh Shapiro for his leadership and his commitment to growing a strong, unified Democratic Party in Pennsylvania. Under his leadership, our party has continued to build momentum and deliver results for working families across the Commonwealth. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved alongside his administration, and I look forward to working with him to keep moving Pennsylvania forward.
When I first campaigned for Chair, I promised to build bridges—bringing together Black voters who felt taken for granted, rural voters who felt overlooked, and progressives who felt shut out. As the first Black man and the first Muslim ever elected Chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, I knew representation wasn’t just symbolic—it was strategic. We built real power by forging a coalition that could win. And going forward, I remain committed to strengthening those voices—alongside labor, young people, and all those fighting to build a more just, inclusive, and energized Democratic Party.
To every Democrat who stood with me—thank you. We’ve made progress that will last far beyond my tenure. And while I may be stepping down as Chair, I’m not stepping away from this work. I’m running for Congress to keep fighting for the people of Pennsylvania—and I’ll keep fighting with you, every step of the way.
Let’s finish the job.
Senator Sharif Street
Chair, Pennsylvania Democratic Party
I’m not going to endorse someone in PA-3 today, but I will say that I always found Senator Street agreeable to work with when I was running statewide Judicial candidates. This was a job he really wanted and I know he’s not giving it up lightly, but he’s on to bigger things, I suppose.
Out of town Republican running for the Democratic Congressional nomination Ryan Crosswell found Northampton County over the weekend to meet the Democrats there and ask for their support for him for Congress. Good for him honestly. Unfortunately, I hear it went very badly. One candidate called him an opportunist in her speech, for which she is spot on. Another noted his “in-artful use of a political metaphor.” I’m down the beach this week and didn’t get to see the bumbling, blunder filled speech, so I asked some people what he said. Apparently he claimed he’s been fighting the nomination of Emil Bove to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. Now of course that’s silly- Crosswell is no longer at the Justice Department, after “bravely” cutting and running from his former post, he’s also not a Senator or staffer dealing with the nomination, and there’s no public record anywhere of him leading some kind of protest. I’m glad he opposes Trump’s henchman for the nomination, but based on what? He’s opposed to unions too. Neither one left Trump after his flunkies attacked the Capitol on January 6th. Both of them were fine with Trump when the high court struck down Roe v. Wade. Based on their long held Republican views, when Crosswell registered as a Republican in Louisiana, North Carolina, and Washington D.C., I would presume Mr. Crosswell is for this nomination. I guess he’s not though, this time. Maybe there’s a primary coming up, or something.
County government isn’t exciting. It does societal necessities that save lives, but it doesn’t get glorified in every day life. It runs the children & youth department. It provides public defenders. Here in Northampton and Lehigh Counties, they run the county nursing home. They protect open space. They house those under arrest while they await trial. The provide a justice system to our public. These are necessary functions. They are not things that thankfully, most of us have to worry about every day. For the most part, our local Lehigh Valley counties have been run well for the last eight years. Minimal to no tax hikes, no cuts in services. Lamont McClure and Phil Armstrong both did a nice job.
So imagine the most terrible kind of guy to replace Armstrong in Lehigh County. He’s a man who lives off of the public, who was intimately close to a scandal ridden administration that still casts a shadow over Allentown. He ineptly ran a police department that ran wild over the city, even as crime sky rocketed. He lead city council as the administration stole services from the public. He’s a party switcher who promises the chaos of DC for local residents here. He gives comfort to conspiracy theories and wants to weaken the right to vote. He’s kind of a mess.
Meet Roger Maclean.
Roger is a grifter. He lives in a city owned home that he doesn’t have to pay for. He hasn’t worked for the city in years in any capacity, but those were the terms to get him here. Boy, lucky for Allentown. If he was just a grifter, I guess I’d just say oh well. Unfortunately that’s the tip of the ice berg. Roger served as Ed Pawlowski’s favorite police chief in Allentown, ineptly overseeing an era of record setting crime, especially violent crime, much worse than we have seen in years. While criminals were running wild, I do have to say that Roger’s force was active- just not apparently at fighting crime. Obviously most cops are good cops, but Roger had a rogue element under his nose terrorizing the city. The District Attorney’s office has charged several already this year for crimes committed back in those days, crimes like forcing a woman to commit a sex act to avoid jail. Perhaps he had no idea, but isn’t that even worse then?
Perhaps he wanted to atone, or maybe he had no clue, but Roger decided to further serve Ed Pawlowski. I guess his time as his police chief wasn’t good enough service, so he ran for city council. As a councilman, he had no daylight between him and “Fed Ed.” Roger was such a good soldier that they made him Council President! Remember, at that time Pawlowski allies controlled a majority of the council, so loyalty was valued. As he rubber stamped Pawlowski’s budgets and spending. Roger was right there for his friend, there to the bitter end, bumbling through both of his roles in the city with no clue the mess that was going on.
It’s kind of hilarious that Roger’s “issues” page on his website tells us that he’ll be a fiscal conservative as Executive, protect public safety, and bring transparency to the county, give his record with the city. That’s kind of the point though in a campaign where everything is a lie. Sure, he did the opposite of those things at the city, so he’ll do them here. Then he’ll tell you he’s a moderate, because he switched from Democrat to Republican, because the Democrats left him. In fact, I’m sure he’ll tell Lehigh County Republicans he was always a true MAGA guy. I’d love to hear who he actually voted for in the 2016 Democratic Primary though, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders? Fact is fiction though with this guy.
On his “issues” page, Roger kind of tells you why he’s dangerous though. Just as he served Pawlowski as his master in Allentown, he’ll serve the GOP establishment that asked him to run for this job. The county government administers and oversees elections. What’s Roger say about “election security” though?
A representative democracy depends upon free and fair elections. Every voter deserves a system that makes it easy to vote and hard to cheat. As County Executive, Roger will restore confidence in our election system and ensure that every legal voter’s voice is heard free from corruption or coercion.
Who is it that doesn’t have confidence in our local election operations? What election was contested unfairly? Roger won’t answer that for you. Roger is going to do what he was told. Roger is going to get rid of drop boxes and try to eliminate voting by mail in Lehigh County. Just as he complied to Dear Leader Pawlowski, Roger will now comply to King Trump’s executive orders to make it hard to vote. He had to give something to these people in order to be offered another job and a higher pension. He’s going to hand over your right to vote.
Some people in politics will dance with the wind and do anything for the next opportunity. In fact, I’d gauge that most of them will. Roger Maclean is one of those people. When he had the opportunity to serve the people of Allentown, he let them down to satisfy his funder, Ed Pawlowski. Now, he’s going to bring that same ethic to Lehigh County to satisfy the Lehigh County GOP. While he supported a more looney tunes character in the primary to my knowledge, I’m sure Ryan Mackenzie will be there to stand by his yes man. Roger will dutifully kill vote-by-mail and harm Cedarbrook Nursing Home. Don’t let the fox in the hen house.
I’m pretty sure that if I told you Bob Brooks was entering the race for Congress on say, tomorrow, he’d push back his announcement. I guess it’s something I said. While he reportedly has lined up SEIU, his own union, and the DCCC, he’s now delayed for over a month and a half since initially telling people he would enter. Coincidentally, not much that was initially promised has happened either. The Governor called no one to ask them to drop out, and sources around the Governor claim that never happened. Not coincidentally, they have not pushed anyone out. Two sources within Shapiro land adamantly claim he will not endorse in the Democratic Primary. Even so, Brooks-watch has outlasted several Trump scandals now.
It is clear that Brooks hired a paid media team, and now two separate sources relay that he has hired staff. He has hired a manager who managed a Congressman that recently flipped a long time red seat in a neighboring state. He has also apparently hired a finance director who will also serve as Deputy Manager. He is taking on some significant payroll with his hires before he even enters and raises any money. Everyone better hope that Brooks raises money the way some folks initially were told he would, and not at the “$175-200k” level that they’re now downplaying expectations to for him. Maybe they’re worried that Democrats won’t like him?
I can’t see how this works out. I can’t imagine how anyone else thinks so either. The more I think about this, the more I think this is about taking votes from other “local” candidates and helping the union-busting, carpetbagger Republican win the primary, and making a few folks some money along the way. While the “local” candidates fight each other for scrap money, he keeps raising money from his fat cats everywhere else. Then when the primary actually comes, he out spends everyone. Brooks cuts into McClure’s Northampton vote by just enough. Boom, the DCCC gets the candidate they actually wanted, one who can raise his own money. They’ve decided that’s the most important thing a nominee can have here. Listen, I’m not going to sit here and say money isn’t very, very important. I’m just saying I’m amazed now that we have a gun nut entering the race with supposed Beltway approval, and we already literally have a Republican running in the Democratic Primary. Even a decade ago this wouldn’t fly. Here we are though.
Apocalypse Vibes 