Former Representative David Trone was defeated by incumbent Representative April McClain Delaney in a tightly contested primary for a western Maryland House seat.
The contest became one of the most expensive primaries of the 2026 cycle, with total expenditures exceeding $32 million between the two campaigns.
Trone invested more than $25 million of his personal fortune, while Delaney contributed at least $7 million of her own money to secure a second term.
Trone, a billionaire who founded the alcohol retailer Total Wine & More, served three terms in the district before a costly, unsuccessful Senate run that consumed over $60 million of his wealth. He later endorsed Delaney as his successor.
Delaney, a freshman legislator with prior experience as a political appointee in the Commerce Department, is married to former Representative John Delaney, who held the seat from 2013 to 2019.
Policy disagreements were limited; Trone sharply criticized Delaney for her vote on the Laken Riley Act, a measure requiring detention of certain illegal immigrants, which she later expressed regret over. Delaney, in turn, rebuked Trone for referencing a former Secretary of State in an advertisement concerning abortion rights.
The Democratic establishment unified behind Delaney, securing endorsements from state leaders and prominent national figures, while Trone highlighted backing from the state’s largest teachers union.
Neither candidate resides within the district; both live in Potomac, an affluent suburb of Washington, D.C.
The district stretches from the rural, Republican‑leaning northwest to the heavily Democratic suburbs of Montgomery and Frederick counties. Although the district narrowly favored the opposing party’s presidential candidate in 2024, it is not considered a primary target for a partisan shift.
