Home  /  Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District – 2026

Candidate Comparisons

The NWLC Action Fund aims to inform the public about candidates’ positions on issues affecting gender justice. We encourage voters to get informed, learn where their candidates stand, and to encourage candidates to adopt policy positions that support women and girls. 

A full list of policies used to assess candidates’ support can be found here.

Bob
Brooks

vs.

Ryan
Mackenzie

Supports

Defending Our Democracy

Opposes

Supports

Guaranteeing Reproductive Freedom and Health Care

Opposes

Supports

Supporting and Protecting Students and Teachers

Opposes

Supports

Affordability and Allowing Families to Thrive

Opposes

Supports

Expanding Quality Care Options

Opposes

Paid for by the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund (www.nwlcactionfund.org) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

These voter guides are an educational resource for the public and are not intended to be an endorsement of any candidate or political party. Candidates’ positions on the issues are determined using recorded votes for and against legislation; statements from interviews, press appearances, press releases and candidate events; social media posts from verified accounts; and endorsements from organizations and associations.

Evidence/Citations

Defending Our Democracy - supports

Bob Brooks

  1. Defending Our Democracy – supports
    • His campaign website includes democracy in his platform, including:
      • “Repeal Citizens United and take our elections back from the 1%.”
      • “Ban corporate PAC money from politics, period.”
    • He is endorsed by End Citizens United and Voter Protection Project.

Defending Our Democracy - opposes

Ryan Mackenzie

  1. Defending Our Democracy – opposes
    • Voted for the SAVE Act, a voter suppression bill

Guaranteeing Reproductive Freedom and Health Care - supports

Bob Brooks

  1. Guaranteeing Reproductive Freedom and Health Care – supports
    • Under “Let Women Make Their Own Healthcare Decisions” in his platform on his campaign website, he supports “codify[ing] Roe v. Wade in the constitution and pass[ing] legislation to overturn Trump abortion bans in red states” 
    • Under “End the Affordability Crisis” in his platform on his campaign website, he supports “restor[ing] the cuts to Medicaid and provide Medicare for All. In the richest country in the world, we can give people healthcare.”
    • In his platform on his campaign website,he supports Medicare for All.

Guaranteeing Reproductive Freedom and Health Care - opposes

Ryan Mackenzie

  1. Guaranteeing Reproductive Freedom and Health Care – opposes

Supporting and Protecting Students and Teachers - supports

Bob Brooks

  1. Supporting and Protecting Students and Teachers – supports
    • Under “End the Affordability Crisis” in his platform on his campaign website, he supports “repeal[ing] Republican cuts to Headstart, provid[ing] subsidies to working parents to help pay for daycare, and expand[ing] publicly funded kindergarten programs to preschool-aged children.
    • “Fund Public Schools” is its own section under his platform on his campaign website and includes:
      • “The federal government should step up and make sure every school in every corner of the district has the funding, staff, and support it needs so every kid gets a real education. And make no mistake: I will not support using federal money to hand vouchers to private schools while public schools are being starved. Our teachers deserve respect, our kids deserve opportunity, and I’ll fight for both.”
    • Under “Stop Bullying LGBTQ People” under his platform on his campaign website, he commits to “always stand up for LGBTQ people by protecting anti-discrimination laws, defending marriage equality, and making sure everyone can live comfortably as themselves.”

Supporting and Protecting Students and Teachers - opposes

Ryan Mackenzie

  1. Supporting and Protecting Students and Teachers – opposes
    • Voted for Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act, which requires public elementary and middle schools that receive funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to obtain parental consent before changing a minor’s gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on any school form or sex-based accommodations, including locker rooms or bathrooms.
    • Voted for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025, which amends the Education Amendments of 1972 to provide that for purposes of determining compliance with title IX of such Act in athletics, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.

Affordability and Allowing Families to Thrive - supports

Bob Brooks

  1. Affordability and Allowing Families to Thrive – supports
    • Under “Retirement” in his platform on his campaign website, he supports “protect[ing] Social Security and pass[ing] the PRO Act to deliver bargaining power and union pensions to more workers.”
    • Under “Make the Rich Pay Their Fair Share in Taxes” in his platform on his campaign website, he says “we need to pass a billionaire tax” and “it’s time the wealthy and big corporations finally pay their taxes.”
    • Raising the minimum wage is its own policy proposal in his platform on his campaign website.
    • Under “Protect Social Security and Benefits” in his platform on his campaign website, “he will always defend Social Security and will sign on to the Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act”

Affordability and Allowing Families to Thrive - opposes

Ryan Mackenzie

  1. Affordability and Allowing Families to Thrive – opposes
    • Voted for OBBBA, which cut vital programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicaid, Medicare, and student loans to pay for tax cuts that disproportionately serve the billionaire class along with unprecedented money for ICE and CBP.
    • He has expressed contempt for a Biden-Harris overtime rule that raised the salary threshold to be considered an exempt employee.
    • During his time in the Pennsylvania legislature, Mackenzie opposed a bipartisan bill that would strengthen prevailing wage laws.

Expanding Quality Care Options - supports

Bob Brooks

  1. Expanding Quality Care Options – supports
    • Under “End the Affordability Crisis” in his platform on his campaign website, he supports “repeal[ing] Republican cuts to Headstart, provid[ing] subsidies to working parents to help pay for daycare, and expand[ing] publicly funded kindergarten programs to preschool-aged children.
    • Under “Cut the Cost of Child Care” in his platform on his campaign website, he supports “expanded childcare subsidies, restoring and expanding funding to Headstart, and providing universal kindergarten and pre-k.”

Expanding Quality Care Options - opposes

Ryan Mackenzie

  1. Expanding Quality Care Options – opposes
    • Though he has not fully opposed paid leave programs, he said in a House hearing that expanding leave should not be a federal policy.
    • Voted for the Stop Child Care Scams Act of 2026 (H.R.7726), which doubles down on unfounded claims of fraud in federal child care grants.
    • Voted for OBBBA, which includes Medicaid cuts that will make it more difficult for aging and disabled people to get the care they need.