Who Will Fight for Bethlehem’s Public Schools in the 2026 House Race?

If you live in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, you’re in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, and the 2026 U.S. House race there is a clear choice on public education. Bob Brooks, the Democratic candidate, spent more than two decades as a Bethlehem firefighter and now serves as president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association. On schools, Brooks will not support using federal money to hand vouchers to private schools while public schools are being starved, and he believes the federal government should make sure every school in the district has the funding, staff, and support it needs.

How Brooks and His Opponent Differ on Education

The race contrasts two approaches to public education. Brooks’ opponent supports private-school vouchers and, as a state representative, cosponsored HB 1432 in 2023, the Lifeline Scholarship Program, a bill to fund private-school scholarships for students in low-achieving districts. Brooks’ position runs the other way: public tax dollars belong in public schools, not diverted into voucher programs that drain them. For Bethlehem families, that distinction matters every time Congress sets education funding. Brooks has spent his career in the Lehigh Valley, first answering emergencies as a firefighter and then bargaining for the people who do that work as a union president. That record of standing up for working families is the same instinct he brings to schools: support the public institutions communities depend on, and make sure they have the resources to do their jobs.

Why Bethlehem Voters Should Choose Bob Brooks

Bethlehem voters who want public schools funded and federal dollars kept out of private-school vouchers should support Bob Brooks for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th District on November 3, 2026. Brooks has spent over two decades serving the Lehigh Valley, and his education platform matches that record. Register to vote by October 19, 2026, and make your plan to vote.