Rep. April McClain Delaney has defeated former Rep. David Trone in a closely watched Democratic primary for a House seat in western Maryland. The intraparty contest, one of the most expensive primaries of the 2026 cycle, saw over $32 million spent by both candidates.
Trone, the billionaire founder of the alcohol retailer Total Wine & More, personally financed more than $25 million of his campaign. Delaney, a freshman lawmaker and former Biden administration appointee, spent at least $7 million of her own money to secure her re-election bid.
Delaney, who previously served in the Commerce Department under the Biden administration, criticized Trone for his vote on the Laken Riley Act, a Republican-authored law requiring the detention of certain undocumented immigrants. Trone later stated he regretted supporting the measure. Trone also faced scrutiny for promoting support from Hillary Clinton in an advertisement concerning his stance on abortion rights, though he had not received a formal endorsement from the former Secretary of State.
Maryland's Democratic establishment largely rallied behind Delaney. Governor Wes Moore, Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, Representatives Jamie Raskin and David Trone, and former House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer all endorsed Delaney's campaign. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi also backed her re-election. Trone's campaign highlighted an endorsement from the state's largest teachers union.
Trone previously represented the district for three terms before launching an unsuccessful Senate bid in 2024, which he funded with more than $60 million. He had endorsed Delaney to succeed him in Congress at that time. The district, which spans from rural northwestern Maryland to the more Democratic suburban areas of Montgomery and Frederick counties, is considered reliably Democratic, although Donald Trump came within six points of winning it in 2024. Neither Delaney nor Trone reside within the district's boundaries, both living in the Potomac, Maryland, suburb near Washington, D.C. Delaney's husband, John Delaney, formerly held the seat from 2013 to 2019.