Democrat April McClain Delaney and Republican Neil C. Parrott listen as moderator Richard Wilson lays out the rules of engagement at their forum before the Washington County Chamber of Commerce Wednesday. Photo by Josh Kurtz.
The leaders of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce were highly prepared and determined to maintain order.
When the 90 people attending the chamber’s forum for the 6th District congressional candidates in downtown Hagerstown walked into the event space Wednesday morning, they were handed a card with the rules of etiquette for the forum, which included “no clapping, cheering, shouting [or] commenting.”
“Please read it and please abide by those rules,” said Tim Troxell, a senior adviser for government affairs at First Energy Corp., which owns Western Maryland utility Potomac Edison. “If you don’t, we have people who are happy to escort you out.”
The forum moderator, Richard Wilson of the Washington County League of Women Voters, urged the crowd to “focus on the policies and a little bit less on the personalities.”
A brawny security guard with tattoos and a military-style vest paced the back of the room, keen to root out trouble.
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What organizers of the debate between former Del. Neil C. Parrott (R) and former U.S. Commerce Department official April McClain Delaney (D) were trying to avoid was the anger and disorder that broke out 10 days earlier in the final minutes of the candidates’ previous encounter at Hood College in Frederick. At that forum, during Parrott’s closing remarks, he and Delaney angrily jabbed their fingers at each other as their supporters erupted in cheers, jeers and chants.
Since then, the bitter rhetoric between the two camps has amped up considerably in ads, campaign literature and social media posts. The open seat in the 6th District, which takes in parts of Montgomery County and most of Western Maryland, is far and away the most competitive in Maryland, and the candidates are spending heavily to reach voters.
Anyone looking for fireworks at Wednesday’s breakfast walked away disappointed.
For starters, the two candidates sat several feet apart, with Wilson standing at a podium between them — in contrast to the Hood forum, where they were seated next to each other and all but touching. And this time, both kept their tempers in check and largely followed the prescribed decorum.
In fact, responding to a question from Wilson, both said nice things about each other — Delaney praising Parrott’s dedication to his community, particularly the youth swim club he and his wife founded in Western Maryland; Parrott citing Delaney’s family, her career of public service and her devotion to children’s issues as an advocate.
In the audience, you could hear a pin drop for the entire hour.
Rather than confrontation, what the people who showed up got instead was a fairly meaty conversation — within the confines of the minute allotted for each candidate’s answer — that highlighted the differences between the two.
“This is going to be a very close election,” said Parrott, who is making his third bid for the seat. “I think voters have a clear choice.”
Please read it and please abide by those rules. If you don’t, we have people who are happy to escort you out.
– Tim Troxell, senior adviser for government affairs at First Energy Corp.
Broadly speaking, Delaney and Parrott offered their party’s mainstream talking points on a range of topics. Both described themselves as common sense problem-solvers who want to focus on economic development and improving infrastructure in the district if they’re elected to replace departing U.S. Rep. David Trone (D).
“I’m going to emphasize innovation, job creation and economic development,” Delaney said, promising to “drive investment into infrastructure in the 6th District.”
The candidates diverged most sharply on immigration, foreign affairs, climate and energy policy, health care, and abortion rights. Parrott frequently used his responses to criticize the policies of “the Biden-Harris administration.”
He regularly blasted the White House record on border security, suggesting that “illegal aliens” are responsible for high crime rates, economic unrest — and the lack of affordable housing in the U.S.
“I probably take a dispute with Mr. Parrott that our immigration problem is one of the key drivers of affordable housing policy,” Delaney parried.
Everyone at the Washington County Chamber of Commerce 6th District congressional forum Wednesday received a warning on decorum. Photo by Josh Kurtz.
She added that Republicans missed an opportunity to tighten the U.S.-Mexico border when former President Donald Trump scotched a bipartisan congressional deal on border policy earlier this year. Parrott disputed that the bill was truly bipartisan, because “most Republicans I know opposed it.”
“I dispute that it was not a bipartisan bill,” Delaney replied. “It was … It was not perfect. It became hostage to the election … We let the perfect become the enemy of the good.”
Delaney also became incredulous when Parrott repeated a charge from Trump and his supporters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was failing to deliver on its responsibilities in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina because $2 billion of the agency’s budget was diverted “to house and feed illegal aliens.” She criticized him for attempting to “politicize when we are dealing with this story” of the storm and its aftermath.
Talk of the hurricane led to a discussion about energy and climate policy.
Delaney, who frequently touted her work at the Commerce Department, said the federal Inflation Reduction Act “had a lot of wonderful ways to drive investment” in clean energy. And she also praised the gradual transition to electric vehicles, saying it ought to be implemented “in a way that is common sense and consumer-driven.”
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But Parrott took issue with the government push for clean energy, saying prices could be reduced with policies that lead to more domestic oil and gas production. “I like to see the free market work,” he said.
Parrott tied the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021 to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and last year’s Hamas attack on Israel.
“That showed extreme weakness to the world,” he said. “Putin saw it, took advantage of it.”
‘I don’t want to have long lines for health care’
On health care, Delaney said she would seek to hold the line on prescription drug prices and favored establishing a government program for universal health care coverage — but stopped short of embracing a Medicare-for-all system.
“We do have universal health care,” she said. “It’s called the emergency room. But that’s the most expensive and inefficient way of providing health care.”
Parrott said he did not want to limit drug prices for consumers, arguing that pharmaceutical manufacturers needed to be rewarded for all the investments they make before bringing new drugs to market. He also warned against expanding government health care programs.
“I don’t want to have long lines for health care, I don’t want to have greater costs for health care,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to get if the government runs health care.”
On abortion rights, Delaney has been a full-throated supporter of restoring the protections that were eroded when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Dobbs decision two years ago. Parrott sought to rebut Democratic attacks that he opposes abortion in all instances, even in the case of rape and when the health of the mother is in jeopardy.
“My opponent says I don’t want exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother,” he said. “I definitely do. I always have.”
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But Delaney pushed back, noting that Parrott co-sponsored a “Personhood Amendment” during the 2011 legislative session in Annapolis, which would have provided no exceptions to abortion bans.
Wilson asked each candidate what committee assignments they’d seek if they are elected. Parrott, a professional traffic engineer, said he’d like to serve on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Delaney expressed an interest in that panel, as well as the Energy and Commerce Committee and a panel that deals with national security issues.
When the forum was over, Wilson thanked the audience “for abiding by the rules of decorum.”
It is not clear whether Parrott and Delaney will share the stage again between now and Election Day. However, they are scheduled to appear back-to-back on Sunday at a town hall sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, at Shaare Torah, a synagogue in Gaithersburg. Delaney will speak at 10 a.m. and Parrott at 11 a.m.