Before running for Congress, April McClain-Delaney had a long career as a lawyer. After graduating from Northwestern University, she returned to the campus to do volunteer work, later going on to earn her JD degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1989. She and her husband, former Representative of MD-6 John Delaney, founded the Delaney Post-Graduate Residency Program, which would help students enter private practice.
As a media lawyer, she founded the Washington, D.C. division of a nonprofit group called Common Sense Media, which focused on the effects of online and televised media on children. According to their website, the group later supported the Affordable Connectivity Program, which granted 1,000,000 families high-speed internet access.
In Jan. 2022, President Joe Biden appointed McClain-Delaney to the Department of Commerce, where she served as the deputy administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). As part of NTIA, she worked to address the effects of media on children’s mental health and expand access to the Internet. She worked with the department until Sept. 2023, when she resigned to run for Congress.
In Sept. 2023, MoCo360 announced that McClain-Delaney had decided to run for Congress. Before her, MD-6 was represented by David Trone from 2019 to 2025, who retired to run for Senate, and McClain-Delaney’s husband, who represented the district from 2013 to 2019, before retiring to focus on his unsuccessful presidential campaign. McClain-Delaney joined a primary field that would ultimately have 15 other Democrats. Still, an endorsement from former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the United Auto Workers and The Washington Post would give her a leg up in the primary election.
McClain-Delaney led her opponents significantly in fundraising, with over $1 million being self-funded from her personal wealth. Joe Vogel, who Maryland Matters described as a frontrunner in the race, criticized her use of private loans and accused her of “buying her way to victory.”
In the end, McClain-Delaney would come out on top in the primary election, winning 40.4% of the vote, followed by Joe Vogel who earned 26.3%. Her opponent for the general election would be Republican candidate Neil Parrott, a former state delegate on his third run for the seat. The election was expected to be the most competitive in the state, as gerrymandering caused the district to take in more rural parts of Frederick County and give up part of the more Democratic-leaning Montgomery County, while also reaching out to Allegany, Garrett and Washington Counties. Maryland’s sixth district is the ninth least compact congressional district in the United States.
Throughout the campaign, she advocated for common sense gun reform saying “33,000 Americans die of gun violence every year – it is a national crisis and epidemic that is destroying communities every day. No one should be afraid to send their child to school or go to work.”
The Brady Campaign, a group fighting for gun reform said “Delaney knows that thoughts and prayers aren’t enough – and that we need common-sense, bipartisan solutions that will change the laws, change the culture, and change the industry of firearms in America,” as they announced their endorsement of Delaney for Congress.
Throughout the campaign, Delaney highlighted her experience working in the Department of Commerce and criticized her opponent’s views on abortion, antisemitism and LGBTQ issues. She specifically criticized him for voting against an anti-hate symbols bill that would ban the display of swastikas and nooses, as well as saying that his view on abortion was an “attack on women.” She also continued to self-fund her campaign and ended up outspending her opponent 5-1.
On Nov. 8, three days after the election, CNN reported that Delaney had won the district with 53.2% of the vote. This win made her the first woman to represent Maryland in the House of Representatives since 2016.
On Nov. 14, Delaney spoke to reporters about her election and orientation for new members. She said that she is “one of the lucky members because she lives close enough to drive [to D.C.].”
She also explained that being in one of the battleground districts, she had to “talk about common sense, common ground things” calling back to her campaign slogan.
When asked about working in a majority Republican Congress and with Trump as president, she said that she would “work across the aisle to uplift the issues of the people of Maryland,” showing her strong dedication to helping her constituents.
She continued to call back to her time with Common Sense Media, where she called herself a “kid partisan,” saying that she didn’t see herself as Democrat or Republican, but rather just doing the work she needed to do to help children. She told the reporter that one of the big things for her would be “to make friendships across the aisle.”
On Jan. 3, Delaney was sworn into the House of Representatives along with the other members who were elected in the past election. She joined all 215 Democrats in voting for Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, for Speaker of the House. In the end however, Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, was elected.
Delaney has been assigned to the House Committee on Agriculture, as well as the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. She also joined the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues and the New Democrat Coalition.
Early on in the new Congress, a bill was presented titled the Laken Riley Act. The Act would require the Department of Homeland Security to detain illegal immigrants who have been arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting. Delaney was one of 48 Democrats in the House to pass the bill, which highlights her commitment to working with people from across the political spectrum. Another bill, titled Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, would prohibit federal funding for schools or athletic programs that allow biological males to compete in female categories. Delaney joined her fellow Democrats in voting against this bill which ended up passing anyway with full Republican support and two Democrats who also voted in favor of the bill.
As the representative of Maryland’s sixth district, April McClain-Delaney has promised to put the issues of Marylanders first, regardless of party affiliation, and so far, she has proven that she will do just that.
