Listen 2 min
Share
Comment on this story Comment
Add to your saved stories
Save
Democrat April McClain Delaney is the latest among at least 15 candidates seeking to represent Maryland’s 6th Congressional District, leaving behind a job with the Biden administration to run for the office.
Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. ArrowRight
Delaney is a communications lawyer and mother of four adult daughters who launched her campaign Wednesday by pitching herself as a common-sense Democrat with a long record volunteering for community groups and boards.
“So why do I want to run given the absolute, out-of-control craziness now present in Congress? Well, to me, it’s about getting normality into our politics？” she said in a campaign video that covers her upbringing as the daughter of potato farmer but does not mention the reason many Maryland voters find her last name familiar. She’s married to former Democratic presidential candidate and congressman John Delaney, who held the 6th District seat from 2013 to 2019.
Advertisement
Her campaign stresses her 30 years working in telecommunications areas, including most recently as a deputy secretary for the Biden administration, working on broadband access.
The Democratic field for the Maryland’s lone open congressional seat — and the only one in deep-blue Maryland dubbed “competitive” by Cook Political Report — is already crowded.
The Democratic candidates with the most name recognition and resources so far are Montgomery state Dels. Lesley J. Lopez and Joe Vogel, Montgomery County Council member Laurie-Anne Sayles (At Large), Hagerstown Mayor Tekesha Martinez and former gubernatorial candidate Ashwani Jain. Other candidates include Joel Rubin, Geoffrey Grammer and Destiny Drake West.
The Western Maryland seat stretches through Montgomery County in the D.C. suburbs, and is open as incumbent Rep. David Trone (D) seeks to become the state’s next senator. It’s the most politically diverse of Maryland’s eight congressional districts and winning candidates typically have slimmer margins of victory there, though Democrats have held the seat for 10 years.
The Republican contest includes former state delegate Neil Parrott making a third run at the seat, which he lost to Trone in 2022 and 2020. That field features former Navy pilot Tom Royals, former state trooper Chris Hyser, Air Force veteran Mariela Roca, former state delegate Brenda Thiam and Heath Barnes, the burgess — or mayor — of the 1,100-person town of Woodsboro.
Share
Comments
More coverage of Maryland
HAND CURATED
Runaway zebras delighted the nation — and exposed their owner’s dark past
October 23, 2023
Runaway zebras delighted the nation — and exposed their owner’s dark past
October 23, 2023
She cherished the home where her family fled slavery. Then a stranger bought it.
August 5, 2023
She cherished the home where her family fled slavery. Then a stranger bought it.
August 5, 2023
Late at night on a deserted beach, she found a 15 million-year-old fossil
August 27, 2023
Late at night on a deserted beach, she found a 15 million-year-old fossil
August 27, 2023
View 3 more stories
Loading...