Combative campaign messaging ramps up in 6th District Democratic primary

by Danielle J. Brown, Maryland Matters
May 5, 2026

Campaign rhetoric in the hotly contested 6th District Democratic primary has shifted in recent weeks from convincing voters why a candidate is the best person for the job to convincing them why their opponent isn’t.

It’s the latest development as former Rep. David Trone attempts to reclaim his old seat from Rep. April McClain Delaney, who won the seat in 2024 after Trone mounted an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate. The shift comes with less than two months to the June 23 primary.

“The past few weeks have seen a real escalation in rhetoric between the two opponents,” Inside Elections’ Jacob Rubashkin said in an email Thursday.

“It’s not surprising to see the campaign shift into higher gear at this point,” Rubashkin said. “The primary is in eight weeks and voters are only now beginning to tune into the various races across the state, but mail-in ballots drop in two weeks with early voting starting a month later.”

For Trone, that means a pivot to calling out McClain Delaney’s voting record, arguing that she aligned with “MAGA Republicans” on certain issues, including immigration enforcement, which she denies. McClain Delaney says Trone is misleading voters with campaign materials that imply he is the incumbent, sending a cease-and-desist letter and telling voters he is “buying and lying” to get the seat.

Millions already raised, spent on handful of Maryland congressional primaries

Todd Eberly, political science professor at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, agrees that messaging from both campaigns has moved toward a greater emphasis on discrediting their opponent.

“I think it’s noticeable that they’re talking a bit less about themselves and more about their opponent,” he said. “I think early on, they were both trying to put their best face forward for their own campaigns.

“I think they’re trying to put, as best they can, in voters’ minds why they shouldn’t be voting for the other person,” he said.

On Wednesday, the Trone campaign published a website outlining what it says are McClain Delaney’s votes in support of various Republican policies, including the Laken Riley Act. That bill makes it easier for federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to detain undocumented immigrants who have been accused, not convicted, of crimes including burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting.

McClain Delaney has since denounced that vote, but the Trone campaign continues to point to other votes and actions to conclude that she is weaker on standing up to President Donald Trump’s (R) anti-immigration policies.

Meanwhile, McClain Delaney’s campaign says Trone, the millionaire founder of Total Wine who has already loaned his campaign $10 million,  is trying to “buy back his seat.” She says he “cannot win in a fair fight,” so he has resorted to misleading voters.

Her campaign sent Trone a cease-and-desist letter last week, saying that campaign materials “From the Desk of Congressman David Trone” and urging voters to “re-elect” him have a “misleading implication of incumbency.” The letter says that future communications must accurately reflect Trone’s status as a “former Member of Congress.”

All told, there are eight Democrats running for the nomination in the 6th District, which stretches from upper Montgomery County all the way to the western edge of the state, along with three Republicans and a Green Party candidate. McClain Delaney and Trone are seen as the top contenders on the Democratic side, both for their electoral history and their campaign finances — in addition to Trone’s loan to his campaign, McClain Delaney loaned $2.2 million to her campaign, according to the latest Federal Election Commission report.

But Eberly suggests that the recent rhetorical shift indicates the campaigns fear the primary might be closer than they’re letting on.

“I think that they’re seeing that this is a very close race, and they are trying to draw distinctions in the minds of primary voters,” he said. “Even though, in reality, these are two candidates who had extraordinarily similar voting records.”

Rubashkin added that Trone and McClain Delaney also have similar name recognition.

“The reality is that both of these candidates are well-liked and well-known among Democratic primary voters and have the resources to continually reintroduce themselves ahead of Election Day,” Rubashkin said in written comments. “Neither one is going to win because they’re better-known than the other, so they have to try to take the shine off their opponent instead.”

While some incendiary messaging is expected, Eberly warns that too much heat could threaten party unification around the eventual nominee in a year a couple seats could determine Democratic or Republican control of the House.

“They (Maryland Democrats) don’t want a divisive primary. The 6th Congressional District is a Democratically favoring district, but not overwhelmingly so,” Eberly said.

“I think there is fear among Democrats that anything that divides the base of the party could be harmful come general election time,” he said. “They’d rather avoid it, but I don’t think there’s any way to avoid that.”

With the legislative session past, all eyes turn to looming primaries

He said interparty division is a particular concern with control of the House at stake.

“You look at how narrowly divided it is right now — it honestly could come down to just a small handful of seats that will determine which party controls the House,” he said. “You don’t want anything dividing your party’s electorate going into a general election.

“I don’t know if we’re at that point yet,” he said. “But given how much money has already been spent, the fact that we still have about seven weeks until the primary, there’s a lot more oxygen left in this fight. I don’t think we’ve seen the sum of it yet.”

When asked about the tone-shift in rhetoric, both camps largely stuck to the combative messaging.

“David Trone has a long record of unfairly attacking women office holders and he is at it again, lying about the Congresswoman’s record and distorting his own,” Nick London, campaign manager for McClain Delaney, said in a written statement

“It was Trone who voted for $200 million to fund Trump’s ICE while April has never voted a penny for ICE. That’s why the entire Maryland Democratic delegation and Wes Moore are strongly united behind her,” London’s statement said.

While McClain Delaney has touted the support of elected Democrats, Trone’s camp points to the backing of the National Education Association and Maryland State Education Association, along with more than a dozen local unions. Trone’s team claims he’ll “stand up to Trump” better than his opponent.

“McClain Delaney is hoping Marylanders will forget she was the only Maryland Democrat to vote to expand ICE’s power to detain immigrants without a conviction. She voted to allow ICE to jail domestic abuse survivors who report abuse and make it easier for ICE to deport and bar immigrants permanently from the country without due process,” according to a written statement from Congressman David Trone’s Reelection Campaign.

Rubashkin said attack ads and contrast messaging are “unfortunately a staple of modern campaigns, and it’s basically impossible to find a successful candidate in a competitive race who doesn’t hit their opponent — or outsource their dirty work to a friendly outside group — despite most candidates saying they want to avoid negative campaigning.”

“Neither campaign wants to unleash their attacks before anyone is paying attention, but now that we’re closer to the primary, I expect we’ll only see escalation moving forward,” Rubashkin said.

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