The Maryland legislature changed the boundaries of the state's congressional districts after the 2010 census. The 6th Congressional District which had been a Republican stronghold was changed, removing rural areas in the northeast of the state and extending it into the Washington suburbs. The new shape of the district is shown in the map above.
Roscoe Bartlett, a Tea Party Republican and 10 term Congressman is now running against John Delaney to represent the district. Delaney, a successful businessman, is a moderate Democrat who appears well suited to represent the people of the district and work with the state delegation in Congress.
The more I read about Bartlett, the more unhappy I am that he represents me in Congress. I have been posting on the things I find. Please check these out:
- Why I Oppose Reelection of Roscoe Bartlett
- Roscoe Bartlett Campaign Financing -- Maryland 6th Congressional District
- More on Roscoe Bartlett
UPDATE ON THE DAY AFTER THE ELECTION
John Delaney won the election and will represent Maryland's 6th Congressional District in the next Congress, More....
The Washington Post reports that the Congressional redistricting done this year has been approved by a large majority. Thus the Maryland 6th Congressional District should remain as shown at least until 2022. Here is the count as of this morning (November 7, 2012):
24 comments:
Roscoe Bartlett on gay marriage: At a campaign event in Frederick "A woman wonders if tax dollars are going toward the effort to legalize gay marriage. Another supporter suggests that gay people are being given special marriage benefits unavailable to straight people. Bartlett, who is opposed to gay marriage, says it’s primarily a state issue, but claims that, years ago, he first coined the phrase, “It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” and suggests that legalizing gay marriage may lead to legalized marriage between people and animals." http://www.baltimoremagazine.net/features/2012/05/the-last-stand-of-roscoe-bartlett
During the 1998 election, the Washington Post published the following: "Bartlett was the only Maryland congressman to vote for all 10 items in the Republicans' "Contract With America." He favors reduced federal government spending and reduced taxes. Bartlett also has voted to end affirmative action in colleges and universities and to repeal the assault weapons ban." http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/33980057.html?dids=33980057:33980057&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+12%2C+1998&author=Emily+Bazelon&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Bartlett+and+HarbyTalk+Taxes%2C+Schools%3B+Fiscal+Restraint%2C+Education+on+Agendas&pqatl=google
From 1998: "Some conservatives on Capitol Hill are using votes on U.S. payments to the United Nations to scorch President Clinton on abortion policy. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett of Western Maryland has a different target in mind: He questions whether the United States belongs in the United Nations at all.
"On the House floor and on several dozen conservative radio talk shows, Bartlett has emerged as one of the most vocal of a band of populist Republicans who are deeply skeptical of the United Nations, of free trade, and of any involvement in foreign affairs that does not concern a direct threat to national security." http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/28612370.html?dids=28612370:28612370&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+13%2C+1998&author=David+Folkenflik&pub=The+Sun&desc=Bartlett+takes+on+role+of+security+policy+critic%3B+He+questions+function+of+United+Nations%2C+wisdom+of+free+trade&pqatl=google
Roscoe Bartlett aide investigation requested
"The Maryland Democratic Party is seeking a congressional ethics investigation of Rep. Roscoe Bartlett's employment of state Republican Party chairman Alex Mooney while Mooney was also a candidate for the Maryland Republican's seat.
"Democratic Party Executive Director David Sloan said Tuesday that the arrangement violated House ethics rules.
"Sloan also says Bartlett may have improperly used congressional office resources for campaign activities."
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/09/roscoe-bartlett-aide-investigation-requested-80282.html
"The candidates in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District have already raised more money than in the district’s last five congressional races combined." I wonder where all of Bartlett's funds are coming from. I know that Delaney is supported by many Democrats in the areas moved into the 6th this election. http://times-news.com/local/x354172701/Bartlett-Delaney-embrace-social-media-in-6th-District-race
"The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has no airtime reserved for three of its most vulnerable incumbents, a sign it might think Reps. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), Frank Guinta (R-N.H.) and Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) are beyond saving at this point.......Bartlett's district was not included in any of the group's original air reservations." http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/258675-nrcc-not-spending-for-three-vulnerable-gop-lawmakers
John Delaney has an opinion piece in the Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-risk-of-easy-money/2012/09/27/7921c974-08c2-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_story.html
The Washington Post has endorsed John Delaney: "Mr. Delaney is an excellent candidate — shrewd, smart, hardworking and independent. He would be a standout representative for the 6th District and a marked improvement on Mr. Bartlett. We endorse Mr. Delaney."
WP notes on Bartlett: "He has been a champion of the tea party, refusing to raise taxes under any circumstances, opposing Obamacare and stimulus spending to jump-start the economy.
"His opposition to public spending is often half-baked, as when he warned recently that it was a slippery slope from government-backed student loans to the Holocaust. He apologized, but it is just the sort of rhetoric, and thinking, that has made compromise so impossible in Congress.
"He has been no more flexible on social issues, opposing same-sex marriage, sponsoring legislation that would outlaw abortion by defining “personhood” as beginning at conception, and opposing realistic reform of the nation’s broken immigration system."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/john-delaney-for-marylands-6th-district/2012/10/04/3fb4aeea-0e2b-11e2-bb5e-492c0d30bff6_story.html
The Gazette endorsed Delaney: "Bartlett, by most measures, votes 90 percent of the time with the GOP majority in the House, which he attributes mostly to 'procedural votes.' Yet some of those obstructionist votes helped solidify partisan gridlock at a time when compromise was needed more than ever to help the nation recover from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
"Bartlett also was criticized by other Republican challengers during the primary for failing to have much significant legislation to show for two decades in Congress. Some of his opponents said it was time for a change, for fresh ideas for a fresh new district.
"They were right, which is why Delaney is the best choice to represent the district."
http://www.gazette.net/article/20121010/OPINION/710109582/-1/gazette-endorsements-for-congress-delaney-van-hollen-and-sarbanes&template=gazette
Congresswoman Donna Edwards and Senator Barbara Mikulski joined John Delaney at a recent rally that "marked the launch of the Delaney campaign's advisory board on women's issues. The board features more than 80 prominent women in the 6th District. Sen. Mikulski and Rep. Edwards are among those helping Delaney understand the issues women are facing and how to empower women for today and for the future in our changing world." http://www.examiner.com/article/john-delaney-republican-war-on-women-will-be-unsuccessful
Candidate John Delaney Says Roscoe Bartlett is "Out-of-Touch"
http://your4state.com/fulltext?nxd_id=276802
"State Democrats redrew the district's boundaries, and now it favors their party. That leaves 10-term Republican Rep. Roscoe Bartlett in trouble.
"'My opponent is a member of the Tea Party, which is an organization that came to Washington to do nothing — to defeat everything they try to get done,' Democrat John Delaney charged at Wednesday's debate in Hagerstown. 'I want to go to Washington and get things done,' said Delaney, as his supporters cheered."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/10/19/163235982/redistricting-in-maryland-imperils-longtime-congressional-republican
"Candidates in competitive 6th District hold first televised debate
"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. He also fended off an attack from Delaney in one of the few direct exchanges between the candidates, demonstrating a spirit that has been largely absent from his campaign.
"The candidates offered competing, if predictable, visions for the economy: Bartlett said the key to growth is to lower the corporate tax rate and cut regulations while Delaney said government should invest in education and infrastructure while pursuing a mix of taxes and spending cuts to lower the deficit. Echoing arguments in this year's presidential race, the two differed fundamentally on the role government should play in the economy."
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-10-18/news/bs-md-sixth-debate-20121017_1_democratic-challenger-john-delaney-bartlett-6th-district
6th District candidates address deficit, job creation, immigration during debate
Bartlett, Delaney, Mueller spar in Hagerstown
http://times-news.com/local/x253541355/6th-District-candidates-address-deficit-job-creation-immigration-during-debate">http://times-news.com/local/x253541355/6th-District-candidates-address-deficit-job-creation-immigration-during-debate
This article presents some of the content of the debate.
The other debates are:
★6:30 p.m. Oct. 21: Jewish Community Relations Council Debate, Temple Beth Ami, Rockville.
★ 4 p.m. Oct. 22: Allegany County Chamber of Commerce and WCBC Radio, Allegany College of Maryland, Continuing Education Building, Rooms 12, 13, 14, Cumberland.
★7 p.m. Oct. 22: Frederick News Post Debate, Frederick Community College, Jack B. Kussmaul Theater, Frederick.
★ 1 to 3 p.m. Oct. 28: AARP Debate, Frederick Community College, Jack B. Kussmaul Theater, Frederick.
html>http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/maryland-politics/post/roscoe-bartlett-agrees-to-6-debates-with-john-delaney-in-marylands-6th/2012/10/11/7f09bd3c-13a9-11e2-ba83-a7a396e6b2a7_blog.html
"GOP’s Bartlett a heavy underdog at 86.....
"How aggressively Bartlett is actually campaigning is another question.
"The biggest headlines he has drawn over the last month have focused on his head-scratching reference to the Holocaust in the course of answering a question on the federal subsidization of student loans at a forum in early September. Bartlett quickly apologized.
"Over the last week, he held no publicly-promoted events, and his campaign would not provide his public schedule to a reporter. Bartlett said he held town halls through his congressional office, but there was no mention of them on his official web site or Facebook page."
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/261789-gops-bartlett-a-heavy-maryland-underdog-at-age-of-86
MD6 – Debate Hosted by ‘Jewish Community Relations Council’
Bartlett stood by the more than 30 votes he cast to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care reform law, but acknowledged that Republicans “do not have a well-developed alternative.” He defended his membership in the House Tea Party Caucus as “supporting a dialogue on the importance of the Constitution,” but added that he reaches across the aisle “more than probably any other Republican.”
http://gestetnerupdates.com/2012/10/22/md6-congressional-debate-hosted-by-jewish-community-relations-council/
6th District candidates square off; Bartlett, Delaney talk deficit, future
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=142351#.UIbVbeQScVA
Delaney for Maryland District 6
Endorsement from Washington Jewish Week
http://washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=29&ArticleID=18207&TM=32288.85
Hagerstown Herald-Mail Endorses John Delaney
http://www.herald-mail.com/opinion/hm-in-house-race-our-choice-is-delaney-20121026,0,2086767.story
The Baltimore Sun Publishes Report of 10/20 to 10/25 Poll
"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. The result is a statistical tie.......
"The telephone survey of 610 likely 6th district voters — the first independent poll in the closely watched race — was conducted Oct. 20 to Oct. 25.........
"Both candidates have locked up their respective core voters, but Delaney appears to have additional momentum heading into the Nov. 6 election. Among those voters who have made up their mind in the past week, about two-thirds chose Delaney."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-sixth-poll-20121028,0,2504207.story
The Washington Post quotes Roscoe Bartlett: “This isn’t the politically correct thing to say, but when we drove the mother out of the home into the workplace and replaced her with the television set, that was not a good thing.”
WP continues: "A founding member of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus, Bartlett .......opposed No Child Left Behind and the Troubled Asset Relief Program because he thought it was a bailout crafted for Wall Street at Main Street’s expense."
The article devotes most space to the Democratic challenger, John Delaney: “He’s surging at the right time,” Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler said while handing out Delaney brochures. “Look at this morning, how hard he’s working. People really believe, if you’re going to work for yourself, you’re going to work for them. And that’s certainly the case with John.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/gops-bartlett-in-fight-for-political-survival-in-district-tailored-for-democratic-challenger/2012/10/26/c70e36a2-1fb2-11e2-9cd5-b55c38388962_story_1.html
"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."
The Baltimore Sun
Post a Comment