This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s partnership with NOTUS, a nonpartisan news organization that covers government and politics with the fresh eyes of early career journalists and the expertise of veteran reporters.
A leading Democrat in one of the nation’s hottest House races argues that federal lawmakers must prioritize public service over their own personal finances.
“No stock trading in Congress. If you want to get rich, don’t run for office,” Bob Brooks states on his campaign website.
On X, Brooks — a self-described “working-class fighter” who still plows snow and has scored endorsements from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — was even more outspoken.
“Is there anyone who isn’t sick of this shit?” he said last month in response to a Politico story about Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan’s numerous stock trades.
But as Brooks seeks to win his seven-way Democratic primary on May 19 and advance to challenge incumbent Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, he and his wife continue to personally invest in several dozen individual stocks together worth well into the tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to a NOTUS review of a financial disclosure document he filed with Congress.
Some stock investments held by Brooks or his wife, Jen, stand in contrast to his blue-collar image and congressional campaign’s generally center-left agenda, which for the local labor leader and retired firefighter includes strengthening unions, raising the minimum wage, fighting “billionaires and huge companies” and making “the rich pay their taxes.”
Of U.S. immigration law enforcement, Brooks writes in his campaign platform: “In America, we don’t send masked men to kidnap people off the street and throw them into unmarked cars. It’s bullshit and un-American.” Brooks’ wife owns up to $1,000 worth of stock in government contractor Palantir, a company co-founded by Republican megadonor Peter Thiel that provides technology to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to find and deport undocumented immigrants.
Regarding Americans staying healthy, Brooks writes: “No more lining the pockets of insurance and drug company bosses. Healthcare should work for people.” Brooks or his wife owns stock in several pharmaceutical and health insurance companies, including drugmaker AbbVie (up to $1,000), pharmaceuticals and medical products distributor Cardinal Health (up to $15,000), insurance company Elevance Health (up to $15,000) and insurance company Humana (up to $1,000), according to his financial disclosure.
In a statement to NOTUS, Brooks’ campaign manager Jenna Kaufman said Brooks has never personally traded stocks — the couple uses a professional investment management firm to steer their stock holdings, according to Brooks’ financial disclosure.
“Once in Congress, neither he nor his wife will own individual stocks,” said Kaufman, who did not answer questions about the couple’s personal investment philosophy or indicate whether Brooks and his wife would divest of their individual stock holdings in the meantime.
Among other stocks owned by Brooks or his wife: shares of Chevron, Meta, Nvidia and Tesla. Brooks and his wife together also own between $2,000 and $30,000 worth of stock in Amazon.com, which has faced accusations of illegal union busting and formal complaints alleging as much.
Brooks’ exact net worth is unclear, as congressional candidates are only required by law to list the values of their assets and liabilities in broad ranges, such as “$1,001 to $15,000” or “$50,001 to $100,000.”
Taken together, Brooks and his wife could be worth as little as about $148,000 and as much as $3.89 million, according to a NOTUS analysis of more than 220 individual assets and liabilities Brooks disclosed on Jan. 28.
This does not include the value of Brooks’ primary residence, which for congressional candidates is exempt from disclosure. His disclosure includes several liabilities — mortgage debt, as well as personal and business loan debt — as well as several assets such as bank accounts and a rental property worth up to $500,000 that’s owned by his wife.
Brooks’ campaign declined to provide specific dollar figures for the couple’s assets, liabilities and net worth. It also declined to make Brooks available for an interview.
“Bob is not a millionaire,” Kaufman said when asked for details about Brooks’ wealth.
Brooks “spent 20 years as a Bethlehem firefighter and has held more jobs than most people do in a lifetime: dishwasher, short-order cook, bartender, landscaper, warehouse worker, pizza delivery man, and snow plow driver,” Kaufman said. “He talks openly on the campaign trail about how he previously relied on food assistance, about how he faced foreclosure, and how he has worked more than one job at a time in order to make ends meet. It’s ridiculous that the subject of this story is Bob and his wife’s savings — that they do not personally manage or control — earned over decades of work.”
For Brooks’ potential Republican opponent, the Democrat’s personal wealth is indeed an issue.
“With hundreds of thousands of dollars in individual stocks, real estate, and business interests, Bob Brooks is a millionaire pretending to be a working-class hero,” said Arnaud Armstrong, a Mackenzie re-election campaign spokesman.
Mackenzie disclosed owning no individual stocks and has co-sponsored three bills this congressional session that aim to ban members of Congress and their immediate family members from trading stocks and otherwise police their personal financial investments.
Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, another candidate seeking the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania’s 7th District congressional primary, says Brooks’ financial disclosure places his reported assets “well above what many people would consider typical working-class finances.”
“Having assets or personal wealth does not, by itself, prevent anyone from advocating for working people,” said Pinsley, who reported owning no individual stocks and said he’d co-sponsor congressional stock-ban legislation if elected. “The question voters tend to focus on is not wealth alone, but whether the public image a candidate presents is consistent with their overall record and conduct.”
Another Democratic candidate, former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, declined to comment on Brooks’ personal finances. His campaign manager, Nick Mattes, said Crosswell’s own investment strategy “has always been planned around a modest government retirement plan, and he owns no individual stocks. He is running for Congress to continue to serve his country, not himself, and he strongly supports banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks. Ryan understands the working and saving middle class, because that’s what he is.”
Carol Obando-Derstine, who is also running in the Democratic primary, reported owning between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of stock in the PPL Corporation, which Obando-Derstine attributed to her time working at the company.
“If elected, I will place that stock into a blind trust and work to ban members of Congress from trading stocks and from using their positions to enrich themselves at the expense of the American people,” said Obando-Derstine, who also declined to comment on Brooks’ personal finances.
Democratic candidates Lamont McClure, the Northampton County, Pennsylvania, county executive, and Aiden Gonzalez, a software company executive, did respond to requests for comment. McClure and his wife own hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of individual stock, according to his personal financial disclosure. Gonzalez reported owning no stock.
Brooks initially filed a signed, certified personal financial disclosure — required by law of all federal congressional candidates and members of Congress to defend against conflicts of interest and enhance public accountability — on Dec. 23. But when NOTUS inquired about the disclosure in January, the Brooks campaign acknowledged that the filing contained errors.
Brooks filed an amended disclosure on Jan. 28 that reattributed several dozen financial holdings, including individual stocks held in a retirement account, from Brooks to his wife.