Bald and goateed, Brooks doesn’t have a college degree and touts that as a credential on the campaign trail. (Only three Democrats serving in the House didn’t graduate from college, despite about 40% of Americans fitting that profile.) His campaign launch video shows him riding a Bobcat tractor in his backyard and ticking through the odd jobs he’s worked: dishwasher, pizza-delivery driver, bartender, truck driver, firefighter. “People are lost and they don't think anybody's representing them,” Brooks told me as we rode in his salt truck on Feb. 15. “They're looking for working-class people who understand them.”