April McClain Delaney vs Neil Parrott: Close race for Maryland's 6th District

WASHINGTON - It's a tight race just a day out from the election in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District where Democratic nominee and former Commerce Department official April McClain Delaney is facing Republican Neil Parrott, a former state lawmaker running for the seat for the third time.

They’re competing to represent a wide swath of rural Maryland and more affluent liberal suburbs of Washington, D.C.

The 6th District, which includes Allegany, Garrett, and Washington Counties in western Maryland, plus Frederick County and part of Montgomery County, has leaned Democratic in recent years but it's no stranger to competitive races. 

Redistricting also made the district friendlier to GOP candidates, although the last elected Republican was former Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, who was defeated in a narrow re-election bid in 2012 by John Delaney. He vacated the seat in 2020 in favor of a short-lived bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Delaney's campaign has focused heavily on abortion rights, a key issue for Democrats across the country. To that end, McClain-Delaney's campaign has rolled out ads assailing Parrott's past votes against strengthening spousal rape laws and pro-choice efforts, and citing her four daughters as her inspiration for getting into the race.

"I can’t believe that my mother, my daughters’ grandmother, had more reproductive freedoms than they currently do," she said in a recent interview. She said she once experienced an ectopic pregnancy that could have been fatal if restrictive abortion laws had limited her access to life-saving medical care.

Parrott, meanwhile, has deflected questions about reproductive rights on the campaign trail. He made his anti-abortion stance clear during 12 years in the Maryland State House. But now, he says, it’s "really a non-issue" because he doesn’t believe either political party can get enough congressional votes to regulate abortion nationally — a position similar to that of former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee.

That approach also echoes recent efforts by other conservatives and leaders of the anti-abortion movement now struggling to appeal to voters in blue-leaning Maryland. The state’s voters will also consider a constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.

Instead, Parrott centered his message on the economy and inflation. He's also getting major support from the House Freedom Caucus and its new leader, Rep. Andy Harris, who is currently the sole Republican member of the Maryland congressional delegation.

READ MORE: Democrats growing uneasy over Maryland's 6th district race: reports

McClain Delaney has used personal funds to bolster her campaign and received endorsements from big-name Democrats, including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin.

She’s also outspent Parrott by a wide margin, according to AdImpact, which tracks campaign spending. Just since the May 14 primaries, Democrats have spent more than $600,000 on advertising in the 6th District race, compared to slightly more than $30,000 spent by Republicans.

Those figures are not expected to change much between now and Nov. 5, with McClain-Delaney having a nearly 20-1 advantage in ad spending reserved the rest of the way. Neither candidate has received much support from the national parties or outside groups, a possible indicator that both sides view the seat as safely Democratic.

Parrot is a longtime resident of Hagerstown, a small city in western Maryland surrounded by farmland. A traffic engineer by trade, he said he can relate to people dealing with high grocery bills and unaffordable housing.

"I have a history here," he said. "I’ve served in the community here."

But McClain Delaney, 60, argues she’s more ideologically in line with most 6th District voters. She calls herself a "common sense, common ground" candidate. The daughter of an Idaho potato farmer, she says she can get Washington politicians to address the needs of working families.

McClain Delaney has attacked Parrott’s record in the Maryland House of Delegates, particularly on issues impacting women.

Parrott, in turn, has accused McClain Delaney of lying and taking things out of context. In an interview last week, Parrott said he supports the right to abortion in cases of rape, incest and when the mother’s life is at risk.

Tensions between the candidates erupted into a heated exchange during the last few minutes of a recent public forum.

"Shame on her," Parrott said, pointing a finger at McClain Delaney, who denied putting out false information as members of the audience chanted and jeered.

The House seat was vacated by David Trone, who ran for Senate and lost to Angela Alsobrooks in the Democratic primary earlier this year.

The 6th District hasn’t always favored Democrats. It was represented by Republican Roscoe Bartlett for 20 years before McClain Delaney’s husband, John Delaney, won the seat in 2012 following a redistricting that helped Democrats.