(The Center Square) – Democrat Bob Brooks raised more than all of the candidates running for Congress in Pennsylvania during the third quarter, while tripling Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie’s haul, whom he is attempting to unseat in the state’s 7th U.S. House District.
Brooks, a firefighters’ union leader, raised just under $2.6 million from the beginning of July to the end of September, according to campaign finance reports released on Thursday. Mackenzie, a freshman congressman who previously served in Pennsylvania’s General Assembly, raised just under $810,000 during that same time period.
The latest three-month stretch is the first time that Brooks outraised all of the congressional candidates on the ballot in Pennsylvania this cycle. Mackenzie’s Q3 haul was the ninth highest among candidates running for the U.S. House in the Keystone State.
Mackenzie has raised more than Brooks throughout the entirety of the campaign, although Brooks has outpaced him in the two most recent fundraising reports. Since late 2024, Mackenzie has raised $5.26 million during his current bid, while Brooks has raised $4.99 million since announcing his candidacy for the seat in the Lehigh Valley in late August 2025.
Brooks significantly outspent Mackenzie over the past three months. From the beginning of July to the end of September, Brooks’s campaign spent $2.33 million, while Mackenzie’s campaign spent $1.57 million.
Mackenzie’s campaign, however, enters the final stretch of the race with more money in the bank. The incumbent Republican started October with $2.17 million on hand, while Brooks had $1.28 million.
Both candidates for the seat have significantly more cash on hand than at this point in the previous cycle. At the beginning of Oct. 2024, U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, D-Lehigh, had just under $930,000 on hand, while Mackenzie had just over $305,000.
Pennsylvania was home to several tight races in 2024, but none more so than the race for the 7th Congressional District when Mackenzie bested Wild by roughly 4,000 votes.
The 2026 contest for the purple district is expected to be close once again, although recent trends suggest that Brooks may now have the slight advantage.
The Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball recently changed their respective ratings for the race from Toss-up to Leans Democratic. Inside Elections also previously described it as a Toss-up, but shifted it to Tilt Democratic.
On Sept. 30, Roll Call released its 10 most vulnerable House members list and placed Mackenzie seventh. He was the only Pennsylvania incumbent on this list. Also on Sept. 30, Punchbowl News reported that the race for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District was one of a few that “nearly every senior Republican and Democrat” believes is an “R seat that is all but lost.”
Mackenzie, who was endorsed by Trump in 2024, is also being backed by the president in his bid for a second term. Despite Trump’s approval rating lagging in Pennsylvania, Mackenzie was in attendance for Trump’s May appearance in his district and also took the stage in Texas last month for the Republican Party’s midterm convention, which was dubbed “Trumpapalooza” by Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is viewed as the favorite in his race for a second term this November, is supporting Brooks’ bid for office and has also joined him on the campaign trail in the Lehigh Valley.
