Maryland Rep. John Delaney‘s declaration that he will seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 has set off a chain of announcements from politicians who hope to fill his District 6 seat.
With the filing deadline not arriving until February for the June 2018 primary, who will be on the ballot is up in the air. But one thing appears certain — Jewish Marylanders will be among them.
At least one familiar name from the 2016 primaries will return in 2018: David Trone, 61. The Total Wine & More CEO, who is among the Democrats running, spent almost $13 million of his own money in the District 8 Democratic primary, finishing second to Jamie Raskin, who went on to win the seat in Congress.
Trone told The Baltimore Sun this week that he will accept donations from individuals this time, but not from lobbyists or PACs. Trone’s wife, June, is Jewish and the family attends Temple Beth Ami in Rockville. In 2016, Trone received the annual achievement award from the Anti-Defamation League.
The Democratic field also includes Maryland state Sen. Roger Manno from District 19, which covers Aspen Hill and parts of Glenmont and Wheaton.
Following several jobs working for Democratic members of Congress, Manno, 51, has spent the last 10 years as an elected official in Annapolis.
Manno attends Temple Emanuel in Kensington and is a member of B’nai B’rith’s Chesapeake Bay region. Manno champions environmental protection and affordable health care. He recently survived prostate cancer. Manno is expected to receive support from the state’s labor unions, according to media reports.
State Delegates Bill Frick and Aruna Miller, who are not Jewish, are also running for Delaney’s seat.
No Republican has announced an intention to seek Delaney’s seat yet.
Delaney’s 2016 Republican challenger, Amie Hoeber, said in an interview that she is considering running. “I have not made a final decision,” she said.
Hoeber, 75, lost the 2016 race to Delaney, who is now 54, by about 50,000 votes. She said she expects to make a decision in the next few weeks and is “enjoying watching the Democrats leap out ahead of everybody else” in the race.
Hoeber, a Potomac resident, is a national security consultant and served as a deputy undersecretary of the Army during President Ronald Reagan’s administration. She and her husband Mark Epstein attend Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac.
The 2018 Montgomery County executive race is underway, with three Jewish county residents having announced their candidacy for the Democratic nomination. Roger Berliner, George Leventhal and Marc Elrich — all council members — seek to succeed term-limited Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett.
They could be joined by state Sen. Cheryl Kagan, a Democrat who represents District 17 covering Rockville and Gaithersburg. Kagan, 56, said in an interview that she has not made a decision to enter the race and is trying to enjoy her summer vacation before the political season gets underway.
“After Labor Day I’ll start thinking about politics,” she said.
The only Republican who said he’ll run is Robin Ficker, a perennial candidate for public office. He is not Jewish.
Manno’s decision to run for Congress means his District 19 seat will be up for grabs in 2018. State Delegate Ben Kramer (D-District 19) has announced that he plans to seek Manno’s seat, Bethesda Magazine reported.
Politics runs in the family for Kramer, 60, who lives in Derwood. His father, Sid, was Montgomery County executive in the 1980s and his mother, Rona, was a state senator in the 2000s. State Delegate Bonnie Cullison (D-District 19), who considered running for the seat, has decided to support Kramer instead.
No one else has voiced plans to seek Manno’s District 19 seat.
