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April Lynn McClain-Delaney[1] (née McClain; born May 28, 1964) is an American lawyer, government official, and politician who served as an official of the U.S. Department of Commerce during the Biden administration. A member of the Democratic Party, in 2024 she won the U.S. House of Representatives election in Maryland's 6th congressional district after prevailing from a crowded primary and defeating Republican former state delegate Neil Parrott in the general election. She is the wife of former Congressman John Delaney, who represented the 6th district from 2013 to 2019.
April McClain-Delaney | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 6th district | |
| Assuming office January 3, 2025 | |
| Succeeding | David Trone |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April McClain May 28, 1964 Buhl, Idaho, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | Northwestern University (BS) Georgetown University (JD) |
| Website | Campaign website |
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April McClain was born in Buhl, Idaho,[2] on May 28, 1964,[3][4] to father Thomas McClain, a potato farmer,[2] and mother Laurel McClain.[5] She graduated from Buhl High School in 1982. After accompanying her father on a business trip to Chicago and visiting Northwestern University, she would later attend the school on a scholarship, graduating in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in communications.[6][4] She is a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority[7] and the Northwestern Alumni Association and has returned to the university for volunteer work.[8] She later earned a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1989.[4] She and her husband, whom she met at the university, founded the Delaney Post-Graduate Residency Program to help graduate students enter private practice.[9]
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McClain-Delaney practiced as a media lawyer for much of her career. In 2006, she founded the Washington, D.C. division of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit advocacy group focusing on the effects of online and televised media on children, serving as the division director.[10][11] She was appointed by president Joe Biden in January 2022 to the Department of Commerce, serving as the deputy administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration until her resignation in September 2023.[12]
While John was a member of Congress, McClain-Delaney served as the chair of the Congressional Club's First Lady Luncheon and was a co-chairwoman for the National Prayer Breakfast. She also played an "abnormally active" role in her husband's 2020 presidential campaign,[13] during which she criticized the role of social media in the Democratic primaries, saying that the platforms' focus on the divisive political climate limited Delaney's centrist message.[2]
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Elections
2024
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In September 2023, MoCo360 reported that McClain-Delaney would be resigning from the NTIA to run for Congress in Maryland's 6th congressional district, succeeding incumbent David Trone, who retired from his seat to run for the U.S. Senate.[14] She officially announced her candidacy on October 25, 2023. The 6th district was represented by her husband from 2013 to 2019, until he chose to retire to focus on his 2020 presidential campaign.[11] McClain-Delaney joined a primary field that would ultimately consist of 16 candidates, including other elected and appointed officials. She received support from former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi during her primary campaign, as well as the United Auto Workers labor union and The Washington Post.[15][16][10]
McClain-Delaney significantly led her primary opponents in fundraising, accumulating over $2 million in campaign funds, with more than $1 million being self-funded from McClain-Delaney's personal wealth.[17] Opposing primary candidate Joe Vogel, who was described by Maryland Matters as a frontrunner in the race alongside McClain-Delaney,[18] criticized her use of private loans to fund the campaign, accusing her of "buy[ing] her way to victory." McClain-Delaney's campaign responded by accusing Vogel of being funded by "dark money" and running an "old, tired, negative campaign."[19]
McClain-Delaney prevailed in the May 14 primary election, earning 40.4 percent of the vote; Vogel followed in second with 26.3 percent. Her opponent for the November 5 general election was Republican Neil Parrott, a former state delegate who was making his third run for the seat.[20][21] The election for the 6th district was expected to be the most competitive in the state.[22] In the general election, McClain-Delaney highlighted her experience in the U.S. Department of Commerce and criticized Parrott's stances on abortion, antisemitism, and LGBTQ issues.[23] She also continued to self-fund her campaign in the general election, loaning her campaign an additional $1.998 million and outspending Parrott 5-to-1.[24] On November 8, 2024, CNN declared McClain-Delaney the winner of the 6th district election, narrowly defeating Parrott.[25] She and Sarah Elfreth will be the first women to represent Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2016, when Donna Edwards retired to unsuccessfully run for the U.S. Senate.[26]
Tenure
Before the 119th Congress, McClain-Delaney unsuccessfully ran for freshman class president, losing to Arizona freshman U.S. Representative-elect Yassamin Ansari, who was elected 23–10.[27]
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Shannon Bream of Fox News described her as a centrist Democrat.[28]
Crime and policing
McClain-Delaney supports providing additional funding to "effective and accountable policing policies" and officer training, and encouraging community policing. She also supports increasing support for mental health facilities and violence prevention programs, which she says would address the root causes of crime.[4]
Education
McClain-Delaney supports the Blueprint for Maryland's Future,[29] universal pre-kindergarten, free community college, and expanding skills training programs in schools.[4] She also supports having the federal government work with state colleges to establish workforce development to bring down the cost of higher education, and working with students to fight against predatory student loans.[30]
Environment
McClain-Delaney supports increasing funding for the United States Environmental Protection Agency[29] and climate science research, as well as providing tax incentives for investments in decarbonization technologies.[4] She also supports efforts to transition the United States to a green economy and electric vehicles.[31]
Fiscal issues
McClain-Delaney supports deregulation for small businesses[32] and establishing safeguards around Big Tech.[22] She also supports cutting regulations for affordable housing construction, reinstating the child tax credit,[33] and using antitrust laws to foster competition between grocery companies.[34] McClain-Delaney has blamed both Democrats and Republicans for increases to the national debt of the United States and expressed support for deficit reduction through strategic budget cuts, waste elimination, and reforms to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.[31]
Foreign policy
McClain-Delaney supports strengthening NATO, promoting U.S. economic interests abroad, and leading on issues like climate change to counter foreign policy challenges from China, Russia, and the Middle East.[35] She supports providing aid to Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian War.[33]
In October 2023, amid the Hamas-led attack on Israel earlier that month, McClain-Delaney expressed support for Israel and its right to defend itself, supported a letter calling on Egypt to create humanitarian zones in the Gaza Strip, and urged Congress to pass legislation providing additional humanitarian aid and assistance to Israeli missile defense systems. She also condemned anti-Israel rhetorics on college campuses and supported calls by New York Attorney General Letitia James for increased moderation on social media platforms to remove hate speech and propaganda associated with the Hamas attacks.[36] McClain-Delaney said she was sympathetic to the loss of civilian lives in Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon,[33] but opposes calls for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war and conditioning U.S. military aid to Israel.[37] She also condemned pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses and called on university presidents, law enforcement, and political leaders to protect Jewish students attending schools with ongoing protests.[38]
Gun policy
During her 2024 congressional campaign, McClain-Delaney supported "common sense gun legislation" such as universal background checks, assault weapon bans, and red flag laws.[39]
Healthcare
During her 2024 congressional campaign, McClain-Delaney signed onto a Maryland Healthcare for All pledge to support legislation to extend Inflation Reduction Act-provided healthcare benefits beyond 2025[40] and supported providing additional assistance to people with healthcare subsidies.[33] She also supports allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices[34] and establishing a federal universal healthcare coverage program, but stopped short of calling for Medicare for All.[41]
Immigration
During her 2024 congressional campaign, McClain-Delaney supported the Bipartisan Border Security Bill negotiated by Senators James Lankford and Kyrsten Sinema and blamed former President Donald Trump for its failure to pass the Senate. She also supports streamlining the process to grant asylum and to supporting immigrants already living in the United States, and using new technologies to help secure the Mexico–United States border.[33]
Social issues
During John Delaney's 2020 presidential campaign, McClain-Delaney said that she would support updating communication legislation to protect kids' privacy.[2]
During her 2024 congressional campaign, McClain-Delaney supported efforts to codify the Roe v. Wade decision, including the Women's Health Protection Act.[4][42] She also supported the Equality Act and opposed efforts to ban gender-affirming care.[43]
In October 2024, McClain-Delaney said she supported requiring states to use independent redistricting commissions to draw their congressional districts.[30]
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Transportation
McClain-Delaney supports the expansion of Interstate 270 and Interstate 81,[34] increasing public transportation, as well as improving safety on U.S. Route 15.[39]
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McClain-Delaney is the wife of John Delaney, a former U.S. Representative from Maryland and candidate for president in 2020. They met while studying at Georgetown University and married in Sun Valley, Idaho, shortly after graduating.[2] They have four daughters–Summer, Brooke, Lily, and Grace–and live in Potomac, Maryland.[44][45] The Delaneys attend the Little Flower Catholic Church in Bethesda, Maryland.[46]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | April McClain-Delaney | 22,985 | 40.4 | |
| Democratic | Joe Vogel | 14,940 | 26.3 | |
| Democratic | Ashwani Jain | 4,750 | 8.3 | |
| Democratic | Tekesha Martinez | 3,992 | 7.0 | |
| Democratic | Lesley Lopez | 2,600 | 4.6 | |
| Democratic | Laurie-Anne Sayles | 1,845 | 3.2 | |
| Democratic | Destiny Drake West | 1,086 | 1.9 | |
| Democratic | Mohammad Mozumder | 1,005 | 1.7 | |
| Democratic | Joel Martin Rubin (withdrawn) | 820 | 1.4 | |
| Democratic | Peter Choharis (withdrawn) | 818 | 1.4 | |
| Democratic | Geoffrey Grammer (withdrawn) | 651 | 1.1 | |
| Democratic | George Gluck | 437 | 0.8 | |
| Democratic | Kiambo White | 401 | 0.7 | |
| Democratic | Stephen McDow (withdrawn) | 246 | 0.4 | |
| Democratic | Altimont Wilks | 179 | 0.3 | |
| Democratic | Adrian Petrus | 166 | 0.3 | |
| Total votes | 56,921 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | April McClain-Delaney | 199,788 | 53.05% | −1.67% | |
| Republican | Neil Parrott | 175,974 | 46.72% | +1.57% | |
| Write-in | 862 | 0.23% | +0.10% | ||
| Total votes | 376,624 | 100.00% | |||
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