David Trone launches primary bid for old House seat

Maryland Democrat David Trone, a former three-term House lawmaker who left his seat to launch an ill-fated Senate run in 2024, is making a play for his old job in a primary challenge against first-term Rep. April McClain Delaney, he announced Thursday.

The battle — in a blue-leaning district Republicans have targeted in the past — could set up an extraordinarily expensive primary between Trone and Delaney, both of whom have multimillion-dollar fortunes.

Trone hopes his opposition to President Donald Trump will help drive his campaign.

“Watching Trump and Republicans’ assault on our democracy — weaponizing the government and tearing apart families — is intolerable and goes against everything we stand for,” he said in a statement. “Our fundamental freedoms are being dismantled piece by piece. The people of Maryland’s 6th District need a fighter who will stand up against these attacks every single day.”

The wealthy wine magnate has self-funded his runs for office before. Trone spent some $17 million in his successful 2018 House campaign. He then parted ways with more than $60 million in the 2024 Senate primary, which he lost by more than 10 points to then-Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.

But McClain Delaney, the wife of former House lawmaker and onetime presidential candidate John Delaney, isn’t ready to go quietly.

“David Trone thinks I should ‘step aside’ so he can have his old office back after he abandoned the district to run and lose for Senate,” she said in a statement Thursday. “He has the arrogance of a Trump. But not so fast. On behalf of my district, I stand up to bullies.”