More than $25.5 million has flooded in to Maryland congressional campaigns in the last two months, almost all of it in the form of personal loans from a handful of well-heeled candidates to their own campaigns, according to new campaign finance reports.
The surge in preprimary spending almost doubled the total amount raised for primary races for the state’s eight congressional districts, with total fundraising now at $58.8 million, less than two weeks from the primary date.
The new funding numbers come from preprimary campaign finance reports filed this week with the Federal Election Commission. Those reports include campaign activity from April 1 through June 3.
The biggest part of the preprimary surge came from David Trone, the millionaire founder of Total Wine who is trying to reclaim the 6th District seat he left two years ago to mount an unsuccessful run for Senate. Trone loaned his Democratic campaign another $15 million in the last two months, on top of the $10 million he had previously loaned himself.
Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-6th), the freshman who replaced Trone in the district that stretches across Western Maryland, threw another $5.2 million of her own money into her campaign, adding to the $2.2 million she’d loaned it earlier this cycle, according to the FEC.
And in the crowded 5th District, where 24 Democrats are vying to replace longtime Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th), who is retiring after 44 years in the job, businesswoman Quincy Barabee loaned herself another $2.3 million, as candidates struggle to break out of the pack. The preprimary infusion of cash brings Barabee’s total loans to her campaign in this election cycle to $5.3 million.
The spending, and the self-spending, has not gone unnoticed by voters.
Courtney Low, a Poolesville resident who turned out Thursday for the first day of in-person early voting, said she was “disgusted by the amount of money they’ve spent on this election.”
“We hate how much money they have spent on this election, and the amount of wasted dollars there’s been in this campaign in ads, and nonstop phone calls, and text messages, and people coming to our door,” said Low, a 6th District voter.
Trone has a long history of spending big on his own campaigns. He spent nearly $18 million to win the then-open 6th District seat — which had been held by McClain Delaney’s husband, John, who mounted a short-lived presidential bid — in 2018. He spent more than $62 million of his own money in a run for U.S. Senate that he lost to now-Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.)
And McClain Delaney loaned her 2024 campaign almost $4 million to take Trone’s place in the House.
Personal campaign loans have not been restricted to the high-profile, high-dollar candidates.
In the 6th District, longtime Republican candidate Robin Ficker reported that almost all of his $391,000 in fundraising was in loans, including $81,000 in the preprimary reporting period, and progressive Democrat George Gluck reported that more than $101,000 of his $102,000 fundraising total was a personal loan.
In the 5th District, state Sen. Arthur Ellis (D-Charles) loaned his campaign $200,000 of his $223,544 and Harry Jarin, one of the first to get in the race last year, reported a loan of $350,000 out of the $429,832 he has raised for the cycle.
Among candidates that raised their campaign funds from donors, former U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn reported in his latest filing he had raised nearly $2 million for his Democratic campaign in the 5th District. That nearly doubles Dunn’s take in the first quarter, when he pulled in just over $2 million. In both instances, the bulk of Dunn’s money came from small individual donors: More three-quarters in the preprimary period and just over 90% in the first quarter.
Del. Adrian Boafo (D-Prince George’s) reported doubling his campaign haul in the preprimary period, bringing in $671,841 to bring his total to more than $1.1 million for the campaign. Boafo’s early fundraising was buoyed by $500,000 from AmeriPAC, the leadership PAC controlled by Hoyer, who has endorsed Boafo as his successor.
But with the primary election just 10 days away, campaign money is being spent fast.
Trone’s campaign spent more than $12 million in the latest reporting period, although he still had $7.2 million in the bank. McLain Delaney’s campaign spent more than $6.2 million in the same period, leaving her with $426,000 in cash on hand, according to her preprimary filing.
In the relatively low-cost 7th District, in Baltimore City, Councilmember Mark Conway reported spending $175,275 of the $185,461 he’s raised in his Democratic primary bid to unseat longtime Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-7th). Mfume has raised $365,280 and spent $303,037, but still had $756,167 from previous campaigns if he needed to make a push in the final stretch.
Incumbent Reps. Johnny Olszewski (D-2nd), Sarah Elfreth (D-3rd) and Glenn Ivey (D-4th) each maintained several hundred thousand dollars of cash in hand, and Maryland’s lone Republican delegation member, Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st), holds onto more than $1.7 million.
Incumbent Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th) continues to outpace the rest of the delegation, raising $862,482 in this reporting period after raking in $1,336,780 in the year’s first quarter, to leave him with $7.2 million in cash on hand.
— Maryland Matters reporter Mayah Nachman contributed to this report.