CIVPAC endorses Representative April McClain Delaney in the Democratic primary for Maryland’s 6th Congressional District.
This is not an endorsement based on sharp policy differences between Representative McClain Delaney and former Representative David Trone. On many of the major issues, the two leading Democratic candidates appear to occupy broadly similar policy space. Both are mainstream Democrats. Both are preferable to candidates from the ideological extremes. Neither presents the kind of policy contrast that usually makes CIVPAC’s endorsement decision easier.
That is part of the problem with this race.
The campaign has become less a contest over the district’s needs than a fight over who can portray the other as insufficiently opposed to the right. CIVPAC does not believe that reflexive opposition is the same thing as good judgment. A serious member of Congress should be willing to support legislation from the other party when the legislation is sound, and to oppose it when it is not. The test should be policy substance, constitutional principle, and governing judgment — not whether a vote can be caricatured in a campaign advertisement.
CIVPAC also does not view a previous vote for legislation supported by President Trump as automatically disqualifying. Trump is wrong on many important issues, and his conduct has created grave institutional concerns. But no serious public official should decide every vote by asking only whether Trump supports or opposes a bill. Even a broken clock is occasionally right. The right question is whether the vote was defensible on the merits and whether it reflects a broader pattern of bad judgment. We do not see evidence that Representative McClain Delaney’s record warrants that kind of conclusion.
Former Representative Trone has experience, resources, and name recognition. He also previously represented this district. But he left the House to run for the Senate, lost an extraordinarily expensive Senate primary, and is now trying to return to the seat now held by Representative McClain Delaney. CIVPAC does not regard ambition as a disqualification. Most serious candidates are ambitious. But in a race with limited policy distance between the leading candidates, we give weight to incumbency, continuity, and whether a challenger has made a persuasive affirmative case for replacing the incumbent.
On that standard, Representative McClain Delaney has the better claim. She is the sitting member of Congress. She won a competitive general election. She has begun doing the job. In the absence of a compelling policy or performance-based reason to replace her, CIVPAC is inclined to favor continuity.
CIVPAC therefore endorses April McClain Delaney in the Democratic primary.Summary
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