BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After months of campaigning, door-knocking and fundraising, the 2026 primary season is over and general election matchups are now set, including a closely watched congressional race that political observers say revealed both Democratic strength and some warning signs.
On this week's Lehigh Valley Political Pulse, host Tom Shortell and political scientist Chris Borick break down the results, starting with the PA-7 congressional primary, where Democratic candidate Bob Brooks secured a dominant victory.
Brooks won by nearly 20 points over his nearest rival and carried nearly every municipality in Lehigh and Northampton counties — a result Borick said exceeded expectations.
“You know, I wasn't expecting a romp, Tom. You know, many of our conversations, we talked a lot about this race over the last year. I thought the winning candidate would probably be around 40 percent,” Borick said.
“But I thought the second candidate, whoever was in that mix, would be much closer to that.”
He added that while Brooks’ support level was in line with expectations, the margin separating him from the rest of the field was striking.
“The gap, the 20-point gap or so between Brooks and [Ryan] Crosswell and [Lamont] McClure was bigger than I thought.”
Borick pointed to a combination of fundraising strength, party backing and message discipline as key factors in the outcome. He also noted the role of outside spending, including a super PAC that supported Brooks with more than $1 million in independent expenditures.
“Ultimately, the things you just laid out, I think ...told the story, right? Brooks had the right amount of resources. He had the right amount of support,” Borick said.
“And he, in the end, give credit to him, might be the right type of message, the right type of person to deliver that message for the moment.”
'Becoming more common'
The race also saw late-stage spending from a mysterious outside group that attacked multiple Democratic candidates, a tactic Borick said is becoming more common in competitive districts.
“It is becoming more common,” he said. “We've talked about this with Governor [Josh] Shapiro doing it a few years ago with the the [Doug] Mastriano race.”
Borick described the strategy as twofold: shaping the preferred nominee or weakening whoever emerges. But he questioned its effectiveness in this case.
“I don't think so all that much,” he said, referring to whether the attacks meaningfully damaged Brooks.
“In a district like the seventh, you're going to get a lot of Democratic voters now to take a pass during this period where they're so energized and so angry and want to engage to say, well, maybe he's not Democratic enough.”
'Lots of real choices this fall'
Despite expectations of high enthusiasm, turnout remained relatively muted, with about 20% in Northampton County and just under 17% in Lehigh County.
“I was actually blown away in some ways how low it was, given everything else that we've talked about,” Borick said. “This does seem like a little bit of an outlier in terms of what we saw in the turnout.”
Looking ahead to November, Borick said Democrats still retain structural advantages, but the primary results may not reflect peak voter energy.
“This does seem like a little bit of an outlier in terms of what we saw in the turnout,” he said.
"I don't think when we come to the general election, that's going to be the case. I don't know if voters in the district just thought, well, you know what, I don't know or care enough about any of these candidates to feel highly engaged. But come general election time, I'm going to rally around the Democrats, which I think you'll see to a large degree."
As the general election approaches, Borick said the Lehigh Valley remains one of the most competitive political regions in Pennsylvania, with several races likely to draw national and statewide attention.
“We're lucky, we're abundant,” he said. “I love that people in the Valley, one of the most purple areas in the country are going to have lots of real choices this fall.”
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