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May 26th , 2024 Len’s Political Note #645 April McClain Delaney Maryland 06
2024 General Election
April McClain Delaney
David Trone candidacy for the Senate opened the way for April McClain Delaney’s candidacy for Maryland’s sixth congressional district. This district is the closest Maryland has to a swing district.
There were a bunch of candidates for MD 06. I had 8 Democrats on my spread sheet, 5 Republicans and that was not all of them. April McClain Delaney won the Democratic primary, getting 37% of the vote. Former Delegate Neil Parrot won the Republican primary getting 50% of the vote.
April McClain Delaney has been the US Commerce Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information. Her route to that role began with a BA from Northwestern and a law degree from Georgetown.
An FCC regulatory attorney for Cohn & Marks for four years and the Assistant General Counsel for the Orion Systems Network for five, April McClain Delaney was a Georgetown Law Center Board Member for 15 years and an Advisory Board Member for Georgetown’s Institute for Women, Peace, and Security for almost 10 years. She was also a Board member for Northwestern’s School of Communications for more than 20 years and the Washington Director and Board Member of Common Sense Media for more than 15 years. She would come to Congress well prepared. Though she has never before run for public office, she is also well prepared for that. Her husband is former Maryland Congressman John Delaney.
Her father and grandfather were Idaho potato farmers. She came to the Washington area to go to law school and never left. An expert in telecommunications and social media, she has addressed children’s issues through Common Sense Media and the business end through the rest of her work. She is a Democrat who supports Democratic issues – the Affordable Care Act for health issues, reproductive rights, addressing the climate crisis, and stopping gun violence. Those are the first four issues addressed in her website.
April McClain Delaney understands Robert Browning’s vision: “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” When people set difficult goals for themselves and do not achieve them, the result can be discouraging. Her husband, John Delaney, is the Congressman who ran for president in 2020. She, on the other hand, has set a reasonable goal and is halfway to achieving it. So far, as she works toward achieving her goal of being elected to Congress, she has avoided getting entangled in the Israel – Gaza disputes. Give her credit for both common sense and deftness. She will need both as she will be running against a pro.
Maryland 06 may have been shifting away from being a toss up to leaning Democratic. Even so, Neil Parrot is an experienced Republican foe of Democrats. He was born in Bethesda and grew up and went to high school in Millersville. With a civil engineering degree from the University of Maryland, he worked for the state highway department and then for the state department of public works. When he moved to Western Maryland, he started his own consulting firm, which focused on traffic issues.
Parrot is not a liberal Democrat. He is not even a moderate Republican. He sued the Civil Liberties Union for its role in removing a Ten Commandments monument from a park in Frederick, Maryland and was elected a Republican Delegate to the Maryland Assembly in 2010. With Republicans in a minority, Parrot attempted to use the ballot initiative to oppose statutes passed by the Democratic majority. He targeted same sex marriage legalization, the redistricting map, and in-state public college and university tuition for undocumented immigrants. His ballot initiatives failed, so Parrot tried again on other issues. By 2020, having gained a reputation for refusing to back down rather than for failure, he ran for Congress and was defeated by David Trone. The same thing happened in 2022.
Could 2024 be different? David Trone is gone. His money is not going to be spent on MD 06. He outspent Parrot in 2020 $3 million to $250,000. In 2022, Trone outspent Parrot $10 million to $1 million.
April McClain Delaney seems to have control of the campaign. On April 24, she had $750,000 available to spend. Neil Parrot had $150,000. No one is going to spend $10 million on this race in 2024. If Democrats can keep April McClain Delaney comfortably ahead in the money race, Neil Parrot will be shut out of the electoral race. The big Repubican money will not be available to him. DONATE TO APRIL MCCLAIN DELANEY. Do that at least once, early. Keep her ahead now and she will win Maryland’s sixth Congressional seat Democratic
US Senate Maryland
Angela Alsobrooks , the Executive for Prince George’s County and the former county prosecutor needs to get out ahead of popular Republican former governor Larry Hogan quickly. A tempered law and order Democrat, her family history makes her particularly conscious of the importance of law and order for Black Americans. Along with Delaware Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, they could be the only Black women sitting in the US Senate and the fourth and fifth Black women to ever sit in the Senate. Angela Alsobrooks had $1.9 million on April 24 to Hogan’s $1.8 million. She leads in the most recent May polls by 2 and 5 points, but trailed by as much as 18 points in April. She needs to consolidate her modest lead. DONATE TO ANGELA ALSOBROOKS. See Len’s Political Note #643
US Senate Pennsylvania
Bob Casey’s father, a former governor of Pennsylvania, was the national leader of anti-abortion Democrats. Bob Casey, Jr. is an integral part of a Democratic Party that can keep the Senate, win the House, and reelect its President as a party committed to the rights of women. After serving as State Auditor and State Treasurer, Bob Casey Jr. is seeking his fourth term in the US Senate. One way of understanding him is to understand that he flipped to be an advocate of gun safety legislation after the Sandy Hook school massacre of little children. His opponent is a multimillionaire who grew up in western Pennsylvania, but many Pennsylvanians believe lives in Connecticut. Bob Casey Jr has consistently led David McCormick by between 4 and 7 points in polls. On April 24, Bob Casey Jr had $11.9 million to spend on his campaign; David McCormick had $6.4 million and many more million still in his pocket that he could spend whenever he wanted to. DONATE TO BOB CASEY JR. See Len’s political Note #581
Nearby House of Representatives races
There are several close races in Pennsylvania and one in New Jersey:
Incumbents
PA 07 Susan Wild. Len’s Political Note #546
PA 08 Matt Cartwright. Len’s Political Note #547
PA 17 Chris Deluzio. Len’s Political Note #611
Seeking to flip Republican seats
PA 01 Ashley Ehasz. Len’s Political Note #631
PA 10 Janelle Stelson. Len’s Political Note #640
NJ 07 Sue Altman Len’s Political Note #578
