6th District

Democrat businessman John Delaney won the endorsement of President Bill Clinton on Monday in his bid for Maryland's 6th Congressional District. Clinton's endorsement is a significant one for the Potomac financier, who has widely been seen as having less institutional Democratic support in the competitive race than his leading opponent, state Sen. Rob Garagiola. The announcement also comes as Garagiola's campaign has questioned Delaney's loyalty to the party, noting a political contribution to Maryland Republican Rep. Andy Harris in 2010.

Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett began his unsuccessful campaign for another term with an unusual meeting: a one-on-one chat over dinner with his Democratic rival. Bartlett and his challenger, John Delaney, met alone for two hours in a Frederick restaurant after the April primary to talk about politics, family and their childhoods. The secret meeting set the tone for a race that remained courteous despite the hyper-partisanship playing out just down the road in the nation's capital. Bartlett, a 20-year incumbent, found himself in a battleground district when state lawmakers redrew its boundaries last year.

State Sen. David R. Brinkley on Wednesday became the latest candidate to formally enter the race for Maryland's 6 th Congressional District, arguing in a speech in Frederick that it is time for incumbent Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett - a fellow Republican - to “pass the congressional baton.” Brinkley, a 52-year-old financial planner, made his announcement in front of Frederick's City Hall, flanked by several state and local elected officials....

Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, who has represented Maryland's 6th District for nearly two decades, lost his bid for an 11th term Tuesday to a Democratic businessman who cast the closely watched race as a battle of different economic visions for the country. John Delaney, a Potomac financier, will become the seventh Democrat to represent the state in the House of Representatives in January after accomplishing the rare political feat of knocking off an incumbent member of Congress.

A wealthy Potomac businessman whose very candidacy challenged state Democratic leaders won a hotly contested congressional primary in Western Maryland on Tuesday, setting up a battle for the seat in November that will help decide control of the House of Representatives. John Delaney, a banker and first-time candidate, managed to topple state Sen. Rob Garagiola in the race, even though leading Democrats in Annapolis such as Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller had the legislator in mind when they redrew the 6th Congressional District last year to make it more competitive.

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, the 10-term Republican incumbent fighting for reelection in Maryland's redrawn 6th Congressional District, will begin airing his first television advertisement today, a mostly introductory spot that focuses on the lawmaker's fiscal record. Sporting some trendy, new eye glasses, Bartlett says that future generations should "have the same opportunity for success that I've had. " The narrator explains how Bartlett rose from poverty to become a scientist and businessman and describes Bartlett as a "citizen legislator.

As Tuesday's congressional primary approaches, Western Maryland Democrats, longing for a change in representation, have reason to be optimistic. Republicans, on the other hand, have reason to sing the blues. The change in the 6th Congressional District from solid "red" to mostly "blue" illustrates both the strength of the Maryland Democratic Party and the existing convoluted redistricting process - a process badly in need of change. One frustrated Western Maryland Republican delegate, Neil Parrott of Washington County, has started a petition drive to bring the state redistricting map to referendum.

Democratic congressional candidate John Delaney outraised state Sen. Rob Garagiola by more than three-to-one and then loaned himself an additional $1.3 million this year, giving the Potomac banker a significant financial advantage in the competitive 6th Congressional District. With less than two weeks to go before the April 3 primary, Delaney reported raising $767,709 from contributors before the personal loan, campaign finance reports filed with Federal Election Commission at midnight Thursday showed.

A leading Democrat and the Republican incumbent running for Congress in Maryland's battleground 6th District turned their attention to the economy Tuesday, previewing a looming clash over the top issue of next year's election. State Sen. Rob Garagiola, who officially launched his campaign Tuesday, used his first major address to argue that Republicans in Congress have all but ignored the economy. He said government needs to invest more to create jobs instead of just looking for ways to trim spiraling budget deficits.

In a contest with national significance, longtime Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett and Democrat John Delaney are running neck and neck in the race to represent Western Maryland's 6th Congressional District, a new poll shows. Forty-two percent of likely voters said they intend to support Delaney, a Potomac financier making his first run for political office. Bartlett, a 20-year incumbent who lives in Buckeystown, was the choice of 41 percent of likely voters surveyed. One in 10 respondents said they are undecided and 6 percent refused to say whom they will support.

Despite well-known challengers and widespread dissatisfaction with Washington, most of Maryland's incumbents in the House of Representatives appear to be cruising to re-election - a result of convoluted congressional districts and large Democratic majorities in most parts of the state. From the Eastern Shore, where Republican Rep. Andy Harris is running against a write-in candidate, to Baltimore, where Rep. Elijah E. Cummings enjoys a 4-1 Democratic enrollment advantage, seven of the Maryland's eight House races have received little attention.

Democrat John Delaney, running for Congress in Maryland's competitive 6th District, began using a robo-call Thursday that features former President Bill Clinton. In the call, Clinton says that Delaney has "proved he knows what it takes to create jobs and grow this economy. You can count on John Delaney to stand up for the middle class and for our Democratic values. " Clinton has been a frequent presence in the race. He endorsed Delaney before the April primary and he headlined a fundraiser for him last month.

In a contest with national significance, longtime Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett and Democrat John Delaney are running neck and neck in the race to represent Western Maryland's 6th Congressional District, a new poll shows. Forty-two percent of likely voters said they intend to support Delaney, a Potomac financier making his first run for political office. Bartlett, a 20-year incumbent who lives in Buckeystown, was the choice of 41 percent of likely voters surveyed. One in 10 respondents said they are undecided and 6 percent refused to say whom they will support.

Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, who is fighting for political survival in the competitive 6th Congressional District, said during a televised debate Tuesday that he is conflicted about an upcoming ballot question that would let some illegal immigrants pay in-state tuition rates at Maryland schools. In the liveliest and highest-profile debate of the closely watched race, the Republican incumbent said the state's Dream Act pits concerns over "respect for our laws" against the economic benefits of educating immigrants and others.

Incumbent Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett and Democratic challenger John Delaney pitched vastly different approaches to deal with unemployment, federal deficits and immigration, while both hewed closely to their party's talking points Wednesday during the first televised debate of the state's marquee congressional race. Bartlett, a Republican who is considered the underdog in his bid for an 11th term in the 6th District, did little to moderate his more conservative views on regulations and education, even though his once-red district became more Democratic in last year's statewide redistricting.

SHADY GROVE — As she hurried to a Metro station after shaking hands with Democratic congressional candidate John Delaney, Lawrencia Atakora said she'd support him because of his positions on the issues. But she quickly added another factor influencing her decision: She hadn't heard a word from Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett. "I don't really know who he is," the 23-year-old Gaithersburg resident said of the Republican incumbent, who has represented Maryland's 6th District since she was 3 years old. "That could have something to do with it as well.

Banker John Delaney knew that Maryland's ruling Democrats had someone else in mind to become the state's next 6th District congressman. But the 48-year-old multimillionaire from Potomac jumped into the race anyway. And despite early missteps, Delaney's campaign appears to be gaining momentum with just over a week to go before the April 3 Democratic primary. In the past month, he has won endorsements from former President Bill Clinton and The Washington Post , among others.

The campaign arm of House Democrats began running a series of automated phone calls in Maryland's 6th Congressional District on Monday as part of the its latest effort to tie Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett to controversial comments on rape made this month by fellow Republican Rep. Todd Akin. "By now, I'm sure you've heard Congressman Todd Akin's unbelievable comments about rape and his outrageous beliefs about women's rights," the call's narrator says, according to a script released by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

A top National Republican Congressional Committee official said Monday that the group is likely to throw some support to Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett "fairly soon," but declined to elaborate on just how much it can afford to spend defending the vulnerable incumbent from Western Maryland. "I wouldn't be surprised if you see an ad fairly soon," NRCC executive director Guy Harrison said during a press conference held here as part of the Republican National Convention. Pressed on where and when such an ad might run, Harrison was circumspect.