| Maryland's 6th congressional district | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023 | |||
| Representative |
| ||
| Area | 3,062.27 sq mi (7,931.2 km2) | ||
| Distribution |
| ||
| Population (2022) | 792,577 | ||
| Median household income | $96,041[1] | ||
| Ethnicity |
| ||
| Cook PVI | D+2[2] | ||
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Maryland's 6th congressional district elects a representative to the United States House of Representatives from the northwest part of the state. The district comprises all of Garrett, Allegany, Frederick, and Washington counties as well as a portion of Montgomery County. David Trone (D) is its current representative.[3]
The previous boundaries of the district were the subject of a Supreme Court lawsuit over partisan gerrymandering. The court ruled that taking into account partisan advantage when redistributing is "not judiciable" in federal courts, leaving it to the states.[4] In 2012, the district was found to be the ninth least compact congressional district in the United States.[5]
John Delaney, who represented the district after unseating 11-term incumbent republican Roscoe Bartlett, gave up the seat in 2018 to focus on his bid for president and was succeeded by fellow Democrat David Trone, who won re-election in 2020 as well. However, after redistricting in 2022, the district became much more competitive, giving up a portion of heavily Democratic Montgomery County in exchange for a more Republican-leaning portion of Frederick County.[6] Nevertheless, Trone was re-elected by nearly 10 points over Maryland House of Delegates member Neil Parrott.
History
The Maryland 6th District was one of the original districts that had a congressman starting in 1789. At that time, the district essentially had what remained its modern boundaries, consisting of the Maryland panhandle and areas eastward, all the way to the modern western boundary of the District of Columbia. However, after the 1790 census Maryland's representation increased to 8 congressmen. (Women would not be elected to Congress until 1916.) The new sixth district was in the north-east corner of the state east of Baltimore, covering essentially the modern counties of Harford, Cecil and Kent.[7]
For most of the time from 1873 to 2013, the 6th was a mostly rural district anchored in western Maryland. It was in Republican hands for all but one term from 1943 to 1971, before conservative Democrat Goodloe Byron won it in 1971. He died in 1978 and was succeeded by his widow, Beverly, who held it for seven terms before being ousted by a more liberal challenger in the 1992 Democratic primary. Republican Roscoe Bartlett won the general election, and was reelected without serious challenge nine more times.
However, redistricting after the 2010 census significantly altered the 6th. It lost much of heavily Republican Carroll County, as well as the more rural and conservative portions of Frederick County, to the heavily Democratic 8th District. It also lost its shares of Baltimore and Harford counties, as well as another portion of Carroll, to the already heavily Republican 1st District. Taking their place was a heavily Democratic spur of western Montgomery County, which was only connected to the rest of the district by a tendril in Frederick County.
The new map turned the 6th from a heavily Republican district into a Democratic-leaning district. While John McCain carried the 6th with 57 percent of the vote in 2008,[8] Barack Obama would have carried the new 6th with 56 percent.[9] This was mainly because the Montgomery County portion had almost three times as many people as the rest of the district combined.
In his bid for an 11th term, Bartlett was defeated by Democrat John Delaney, who lives in the Montgomery County portion of the district, by over 21 points. Proving just how Democratic this district was, in 2014, Delaney narrowly won a second term against Republican Dan Bongino. Delaney only won one county in the district. However, that one county was Montgomery, where Bongino lost by over 20,500 votes.[10]
In 2013, Republican voters filed a federal lawsuit, alleging that the Democratic legislature and Governor Martin O'Malley had engaged in partisan gerrymandering, redrawing the 6th district after the 2010 census in a way that intentionally and unconstitutionally diluted Republican voters by including parts of the heavily Democratic Washington suburbs. A federal district judge initially dismissed the lawsuit, as did the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, for failure to state a claim. The Republicans appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously in 2015 that the lower courts had improperly dismissed the case. The case went back to the lower courts where a three judge panel ruled that the Republicans could not prove that John Delaney's election in 2012 was a result of the redistricting. Republican voters again appealed to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case, Benisek v. Lamone, in December 2017.[11][12] In June 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that questions of partisan gerrymandering represented a nonjusticiable political question and remanded the case back to the district court with instructions to dismiss the case.
Recent statewide election results
| Year | Office | Results |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | U.S. President | Bush 61% – 36% |
| 2004 | U.S. President | Bush 65% – 34% |
| 2008 | U.S. President | McCain 58% – 40% |
| 2012 | U.S. President | Obama 55% – 42% |
| 2016 | U.S. President | Clinton 55% – 40% |
| 2020 | U.S. President | Biden 61% – 38% |
List of members representing the district
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Recent election results
1990s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Beverly B. Byron (Incumbent) | 106,502 | 65.35 | |
| Republican | Christopher P. Fiotes, Jr. | 56,479 | 34.65 | |
| Total votes | 162,981 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Roscoe Bartlett | 125,564 | 54.17 | |||
| Democratic | Thomas H. Hattery | 106,224 | 45.83 | |||
| Total votes | 231,788 | 100.00 | ||||
| Republican gain from Democratic | ||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Roscoe Bartlett (Incumbent) | 122,809 | 65.95 | |
| Democratic | Paul Muldowney | 63,411 | 34.05 | |
| Total votes | 186,220 | 100.00 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Roscoe Bartlett (Incumbent) | 132,853 | 56.83 | |
| Democratic | Stephen Crawford | 100,910 | 43.16 | |
| Write-ins | 25 | 0.01 | ||
| Total votes | 233,788 | 100.00 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Roscoe Bartlett (Incumbent) | 127,802 | 63.42 | |
| Democratic | Timothy D. McCown | 73,728 | 36.58 | |
| Total votes | 201,530 | 100.00 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
2000s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Roscoe Bartlett (Incumbent) | 168,624 | 60.65 | |
| Democratic | Donald M. DeArmon | 109,136 | 39.25 | |
| Write-ins | 285 | 0.10 | ||
| Total votes | 278,045 | 100.00 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Roscoe Bartlett (Incumbent) | 147,825 | 66.17 | |
| Democratic | Donald M. DeArmon | 75,575 | 33.83 | |
| Total votes | 223,400 | 100.00 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Roscoe Bartlett (Incumbent) | 206,076 | 67.45 | |
| Democratic | Kenneth T. Bosley | 90,108 | 29.49 | |
| Green | Gregory T. Hemingway | 9,324 | 3.05 | |
| Total votes | 305,508 | 100.00 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Roscoe Bartlett (Incumbent) | 141,200 | 58.97 | |
| Democratic | Andrew J. Duck | 92,030 | 38.43 | |
| Green | Robert E. Kozak | 6,095 | 2.55 | |
| Write-ins | 128 | 0.05 | ||
| Total votes | 239,453 | 100.00 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Roscoe Bartlett (Incumbent) | 190,926 | 57.76 | |
| Democratic | Jennifer Dougherty | 128,207 | 38.79 | |
| Libertarian | Gary W. Hoover, Sr. | 11,060 | 3.35 | |
| Write-ins | 342 | 0.10 | ||
| Total votes | 330,535 | 100.00 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
2010s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Roscoe Bartlett (Incumbent) | 148,820 | 61.45 | |
| Democratic | Andrew J. Duck | 80,455 | 33.22 | |
| Libertarian | Dan Massey | 6,816 | 2.81 | |
| Constitution | Michael Reed | 5,907 | 2.44 | |
| Write-ins | 191 | 0.08 | ||
| Total votes | 242,189 | 100.00 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Delaney | 181,921 | 58.8 | |||
| Republican | Roscoe G. Bartlett (Incumbent) | 117,313 | 37.9 | |||
| Libertarian | Nickolaus Mueller | 9,916 | 3.2 | |||
| N/A | Others (write-in) | 399 | 0.1 | |||
| Total votes | 309,549 | 100 | ||||
| Democratic gain from Republican | ||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Delaney (Incumbent) | 94,704 | 49.7 | |
| Republican | Dan Bongino | 91,930 | 48.2 | |
| Green | George Gluck | 3,762 | 2 | |
| N/A | Others (write-in) | 140 | 0.1 | |
| Total votes | 190,536 | 100 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Delaney (Incumbent) | 185,770 | 56.0% | |
| Republican | Amie Hoeber | 133,081 | 40.1% | |
| Libertarian | David L. Howser | 6,889 | 2.1% | |
| Green | George Gluck | 5,824 | 1.8% | |
| Write-in | Ted Athey | 103 | 0.0% | |
| No party | Write-ins | 306 | 0.1 | |
| Total votes | 331,973 | 100 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | David Trone | 163,346 | 59.0 | |
| Republican | Amie Hoeber | 105,209 | 38.0 | |
| Libertarian | Kevin Caldwell | 4,972 | 1.8 | |
| Green | George Gluck | 3,275 | 1.2 | |
| Independent | Other write-ins | 282 | 0.1 | |
| Total votes | 277,084 | 100 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
2020s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | David Trone (Incumbent) | 215,540 | 58.8 | |
| Republican | Neil Parrott | 143,599 | 39.2 | |
| Green | George Gluck | 6,893 | 1.9 | |
| No party | Write-ins | 402 | 0.1 | |
| Total votes | 366,434 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | David Trone (incumbent) | 140,295 | 54.7 | |
| Republican | Neil Parrott | 115,771 | 45.2 | |
| Write-in | 332 | 0.1 | ||
| Total votes | 256,398 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
See also
Notes
- ↑ Supported the Adams-Clay faction in the 1824 United States presidential election
References
- ↑ Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census Bureau. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov.
- ↑ "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". The Cook Political Report. July 12, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
- ↑ Varney, James (October 31, 2018). "Amie Hoeber and David Trone, Maryland's 6th Congressional District candidates, don't live there". The Washington Times. Associated Press. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ↑ Liptak, Adam. "Supreme Court Says Constitution Does Not Bar Partisan Gerrymandering". The New York Times. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
- ↑ Lazarick, Len (October 3, 2012). "Maryland has least compact congressional districts in nation". MarylandReporter.com. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
- ↑ Leckrone, Bennett (March 30, 2022). "The Major Shakeups for Incumbents in Legislative Leaders' Redrawn Congressional Map". Maryland Matters. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ↑ The Historical cal Parties in Congress, p. 74
- ↑ "Swing State Project: Presidential Results by Congressional District, 2000–2008". October 16, 2015. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015.
- ↑ "Daily Kos Elections 2008 & 2012 presidential election results for congressional districts used in 2012 & 2014 elections". Google Docs.
- ↑ "Maryland House results". Politics. CNN. November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
- ↑ Supreme Court will take up a second gerrymandering case this term (Washington Post)
- ↑ "Benisek v. Lamone". Brennancenter.org. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
- ↑ "Info" (PDF). clerk.house.gov. 1990. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
- ↑ "92 PRESIDENTIAL and CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION STATISTICS". Office of the Clerk. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
- ↑ "94 congressional election statistics". Office of the Clerk. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
- ↑ "96 PRESIDENTIAL and CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION STATISTICS". Office of the Clerk. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
- ↑ "1998 Election Statistics – Legislative Activities". Office of the Clerk. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
- ↑ "2000 election statistics". Office of the Clerk. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
- ↑ "2002 election statistics". Office of the Clerk. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
- ↑ "2004 election statistics". Office of the Clerk. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
- ↑ "2006 Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
- ↑ "2008 Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
- ↑ "Info" (PDF). clerk.house.gov. 2010. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
- 1 2 "Unofficial 2012 Presidential General Election results for Representative in Congress". Maryland State Board of Elections. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
- ↑ "Official 2018 Gubernatorial General Election results for Representative in Congress: Congressional District 6". Maryland State Board of Elections. December 11, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
- ↑ "Official 2020 Presidential General Election results for Representative in Congress". Maryland State Board of Elections. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
Bibliography
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
- Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present