OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
9:34 AM – Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Former Pennsylvania State Representative Bob Brooks has defeated incumbent U.S. Representative Ryan Mackenzie, flipping Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District from Republican to Democrat.
With 97% of the total votes accounted for on Tuesday, Brooks won with 164,370 votes, or 56%, compared to Mackenzie's (R-Penn.) 128,655 votes, or 43%, according to the Associated Press.
Brooks, a long-time firefighter and union president, campaigned on housing affordability, promising to restrict private equity firms from buying single-family homes and backing the Homes for Every Local Protector, Educator, and Responder (HELPER) Act to expand VA-style home loans to teachers, nurses, and first responders. Highlighting his stance on national politics, Brooks's campaign platform noted that "Washington's a dumpster fire."
Mackenzie's campaign focused on lowering costs and providing tax relief, which was a priority of his first year in Congress, "from increasing the standard tax deduction to eliminating taxes on Social Security for nearly 90% of seniors," his website read. He also added childcare tax credits to Trump's Working Families Tax Cuts.
He is also credited with helping to pass "the largest-ever expansion of affordable housing tax credits" to help produce more houses and lower their prices.
The incumbent opposed any cuts to Social Security benefits and voted to invest more in Medicare, promising to protect the social safety net programs in the future.
During his term, Mackenzie also served on the House Homeland Security Committee, advocating for border security and resources to combat human trafficking and drug smuggling, and ran with the endorsement of Donald Trump.
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