The two candidates in the tight race for Maryland’s 6th Congressional District pulled out big names to rally voters on the last day of early voting Thursday with Gov. Wes Moore (D) appearing in Montgomery County on behalf of Democratic nominee April McClain Delaney and U.S. House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) lending support to Republican nominee Neil Parrott in Frederick.
The district represents the northwestern portion of Montgomery County and all of Allegany, Frederick, Garrett and Washington counties in western Maryland. The district is currently represented by Potomac’s Rep. David Trone (D), who vacated the seat for an unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate.
The geographic makeup of the district makes the race more competitive than others across the state as it includes majority-Democratic Montgomery County as well as more conservative-leaning counties. It is being closely watched as a race that could help determine which party controls the House of Representatives.
Thursday’s campaign events began with Scalise’s morning appearance at the Red Horse Restaurant in Frederick, where he emphasized the closeness of the race and the potential Parrott has to “flip” the seat red and help maintain Republican control of the House of Representatives.
“We need more people on our team,” Scalise said. “We need people who want to secure the border, somebody who’s going to go to Congress to lower inflation.”
Moore later spoke in support of McClain Delaney outside an early voting site at Bohrer Park in Gaithersburg, where dozens of voters were waiting in line to cast a ballot on the final day of early voting.
Moore encouraged voters to support McClain Delaney because her platform reflects his mission as governor of “leaving no one behind.”
“This is a serious moment, and we need serious people who are sitting in these seats,” Moore said before referencing McClain Delaney’s earlier career experience. “[McClain Delaney] was making sure that our children were protected from online predators … she was the person who was making sure that we could get broadband expansion and had high speed internet all throughout the state.”
The race marks Parrott’s third run at the seat and McClain Delaney’s first for public office. McClain Delaney’s husband, John Delaney, also previously held the seat. In 2022, the race came down to the counting of mail-in ballots and wasn’t called until three days after Election Day, when Parrott conceded to Trone. The county’s Republican central committee has cited this dynamic as the reason it is encouraging Republican voters in the district to vote by mail. Recent polls have predicted the race could be too close to call.
Parrott, a former state delegate and traffic engineer, cited inflation, border control and gridlock as his main legislative priorities when he spoke to reporters on Thursday in Frederick.
“[With a Democrat] we’re going to have higher costs. We’re not going to secure the border. You vote for me, we’re going to do what’s actually going to help families,” Parrott said.
Scalise said he has been supporting Republicans in swing districts across the country but sees Maryland’s 6th Congressional District as a key race.
“We have opportunities to flip seats in all those states, but I would put Neil’s race in the top five in the entire country in terms of not just the ability to flip a seat, but with the right candidate who’s doing everything that needs to be done. He’s working his tail off,” Scalise said.
When pressed about his views on the hot-button election issue of laws regarding abortion, Parrott said he sees it as an issue for states to decide, not Congress. He did not directly answer questions about whether he would support a national abortion ban or codification of Roe v. Wade. Parrott held conservative views on abortion when he served in the Maryland General Assembly as a delegate representing District 2A.
“[McClain Delaney] is scaremongering,” Parrott said. “Abortion is not part of my agenda. It’s really a nonissue … I’m not the one deciding vote [in Congress].”
In Gaithersburg, McClain Delaney pushed back on Parrott’s noncommittal attitude about abortion policy.
“[Parrott] said the other day, ‘Oh, I’m not worried about abortion issues’… . And I said, of course, you don’t, because you’re a ma, and it doesn’t impact you as much,” McClain Delaney said. “I don’t think that should be dependent upon geography and states … this is a constitutional right and that’s why it’s so important to codify it on a national level.”
McClain Delaney urged voters to consider the future of their families. She focused most of her comments on reproductive rights, inflation and economics, and health care.
“These are serious times. We have serious issues, and our future of our kids and all of us are at stake, and we need to make a lot of progress,” she said. “[We] want a brighter, more prosperous, more inclusive future for all parties.”
Moore said he believes it is important to prioritize inclusive values, which he believes McClain Delaney would champion in Congress.
“When we talk about ‘we the people,’ who is we? Who’s being kept in and who’s being kept out? When we talk about building a more perfect union, who’s part of the union, who’s being included and who’s being excluded?” Moore asked.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Dist. 8) of Takoma Park also spoke in support of McClain Delaney at the event, criticizing Parrott’s campaign and accusing the candidate and his team of spreading misinformation in campaign ads.
McClain Delaney “has been up against … a wall of propaganda and disinformation, when she has stood for common sense for the common people,” Raskin said.
Election Day is Tuesday. Polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. For more information on the candidates, check out the MoCo360 2024 Voters Guide.
