Democrats Rob Garagiola and John Delaney are battling as the two front-runners for the chance to unseat 10-term Republican Rep. Roscoe Bartlett in Maryland’s newly redrawn 6th Congressional District.
Marylanders will go to the polls in Tuesday’s primary election to vote for the state’s eight members of Congress and two U.S. senators, as well as president and local offices, but the 6th District has turned into the most hotly contested congressional race in the state, with all other incumbents considered safe.
Based in Western Maryland, the district was redrawn during the 10-year redistricting process to add parts of liberal Montgomery County and eliminate parts of conservative Baltimore and Harford counties in a Democratic effort to take over the long-held Republican seat.
| The race |
| Five Democrats and eight Republicans are competing in the redistricted 6th Congressional District. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Tuesday. |
| Republicans |
| Kathy Afzali |
| Roscoe G. Bartlett (incumbent) |
| David R. Brinkley |
| Robert Coblentz |
| Robin Ficker |
| Peter James |
| Joseph T. Krysztoforski |
| Brandon Orman Rippeon |
| Democrats |
| Charles Bailey |
| John Delaney |
| Rob Garagiola |
| Ron Little |
| Milad Pooran |
The Maryland Senate majority leader, Garagiola is widely believed to have been the prime beneficiary of the reshaping, but the Germantown resident finds himself in a tough battle against Delaney.
The Potomac financier, who does not live in the district, is leading in both fundraising and polling. Delaney tripled the funds raised by Garagiola between Jan. 1 and March 14, and lent his campaign $1.25 million, giving him a significant financial advantage.
Delaney’s internal polling data, released Thursday, present him as the favorite among 400 registered Democrats polled by Fred Yang of Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group. Of those polled, 49 percent supported Delaney, while 23 percent favored Garagiola and 10 percent picked Jefferson resident Milad Pooran, a critical care doctor at Martinsburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Two percent chose Ron Little, a lawyer from Gaithersburg, and 16 percent were undecided.
Pooran’s last poll — conducted two weeks ago by Public Policy Polling — also showed Delaney with a slight edge over Garagiola. At the time, Delaney had 25 percent of the 802 Democrats polled, compared with the 24 percent who would vote for Garagiola. Thirty-nine percent said they were undecided, and 55 percent said they would be willing to change their minds.
Both Garagiola and Delaney have been inundating residents with direct mailings, robocalls, and radio and TV ads — many negative.
On the Republican side, seven candidates have lined up for a chance to unseat Bartlett.
The favorite is state Sen. David R. Brinkley, of New Market. In an internal poll Brinkley’s campaign released Saturday, he attracted 31 percent of the 701 Republican voters polled by EPolitical, marginally less than Bartlett’s 34 percent. The remaining six candidates split 15 percent of the vote, while 19 percent were undecided.
“The congressman’s in trouble,” said state Del. Kathy Afzali, a Frederick County resident competing for the Republican nomination. “People are saying he’s been there too long — he’s been there 20 years.”
