Bob Brooks defeated Ryan Crosswell, Lamont McClure, and Carol Obando-Derstine in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District on May 19. Brooks will face incumbent Ryan Mackenzie in the Nov. 3 general election. Three independent race forecasters rated the general election as a toss-up.
NBC News' Dylan Ebs and Melanie Jackson wrote that the primary was "a crowded microcosm of the different approaches Democrats are taking to appeal to voters, define their party and frame themselves as strong candidates in the age of President Donald Trump."
In 2024, Mackenzie, then a state legislator, defeated then-Rep. Susan Wild (D) 50.4%-49.4%. That election had the smallest margin of victory of any U.S. House race in Pennsylvania in 2024 and the eighth-smallest margin nationwide. Media outlets considered the district a regional and national bellwether. Trump won the district by 51.1%-47.9% in the 2024 presidential election. In 2022 and 2020, Wild won with margins of less than five percentage points. Daily Kos also calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 49.7%-49.1%.
