Sun ignores District 6 in female candidate lament

In an editorial this week, The Baltimore Sun lamented that “none of Maryland’s state-wide elected officials and no members of its congressional delegation are women, and that appears unlikely to change this year.” The Sun’s editors then went on to list “some of the women in down-ballot races this year who have a real shot at taking seats previously held by men.” But The Sun neglected to mention my candidacy in Maryland's 6th Congressional District which stretches from Montgomery west through Frederick, Washington, Allegany and Garrett counties (“Women candidates are badly underrepresented in races for Md.’s top offices. Downballot, it’s a different story,” Aug. 8).

Not only did I run strongly there against the incumbent Democrat, Rep. John Delaney, two years ago, but with Mr. Delaney not seeking reelection this year, it has become an even more competitive open seat. My Democratic opponent, David Trone, barely won 40 percent of his party’s primary vote (and lost in his home county of Montgomery) despite spending almost $12 million on the contest, just $2 million less than he spent two years earlier in a failed attempt in the neighboring 8th Congressional District. Surely, The Sun isn’t suggesting that a carpet-bagging Democrat, who was rejected by 60 percent of his party’s primary voters, has a better chance in the 6th District than a former deputy undersecretary of the U.S. Army and national security expert who was supporting women’s issues long before it became fashionable to do so.

There is more going on in Maryland than The Sun’s editors have acknowledged, and I’m proud to be part of it.