Maryland Sixth Congressional Democratic Primary

Map of Maryland's Sixth Congressional District with changes in 2011

Source: The Washington Post

An article in today's Washington Post describes the Democratic primary as between state Senate Majority Leader Robert J. Garagiola and financier John Delaney. The current incumbent, Republican Roscoe G. Bartlett, at 84 would appear unlikely to win against a strong Democratic candidate in the newly Democratic majority district.

Garagiola clearly has lots of legislative experience and endorsements of unions and progressive organizations, scores of members of the General Assembly, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown and Rep. Steny H. Hoyer. Garagiola also recently picked up the backing of the liberal grass-roots group MoveOn.org.

Delaney, who is worth an estimated $50 million, is buying lots of radio and television adds and his campaign has been touting recent endorsements, including from former president Bill Clinton and state Comptroller Peter Franchot.

Each man has sought to project a positive agenda. Garagiola has emphasized his experience on health-care issues and work for middle-class families, while Delaney is in the midst of releasing one detailed policy paper a day for five days.

I suppose the Democrats first priority will be to select the candidate who has the greatest likelihood of beating Rep. Bartlett, and then the most likely to understand the problems and opportunities of the people in this newly configured and very large Congressional district. My guess is that that person would be Rob Garagiola, and that view is only somewhat influenced by my distaste for the robo-calls we have been receiving from the Delaney campaign.