6th District rematch between Trone and Parrott still undecided

Nov. 10—One day removed from Election Night, the much-watched rematch between U.S. Rep. David Trone and Maryland Del. Neil Parrott remained the only congressional race in the state too close to be called by The Associated Press.

Parrott, a Republican, had a slight edge over his Democratic opponent by the time all 247 precincts in the 6th Congressional District had reported results to the state's election board early Wednesday morning.

But that could change when the district's five counties finish counting mail-in ballots yet to be tallied.

As of 6 p.m. on Tuesday — two hours before the deadline that mail-in ballots had to be postmarked or dropped off — 72,025 mail-in ballots had been sent to voters in the 6th Congressional District and 46,375 ballots had been received.

By Election Day, local boards of election had tallied 13,203 of those ballots, leaving 33,172 left to be counted in the district.

Of the five counties included in the 6th District, all but one — Garrett County — started counting mail-in ballots before Election Day. Frederick, Allegany and Washington counties will resume counting on Thursday, and Montgomery County will resume counting on Saturday.

Garrett County will start counting mail-in ballots on Thursday.

As of Wednesday, Parrott had a lead of about 4,500 votes over Trone — 102,669 to 98,122.

Though Parrott received more in-person votes on Election Day — 81,769 to Trone's 66,961 — Trone has so far gotten more mail-in votes — 9,923 to Parrott's 3,258.

Despite Parrott's slight advantage, Trone was optimistic when he spoke at an Election Night party at Gambrill Mt. Food Co. in Frederick on Tuesday. His campaign spokesman, Aaron Rodriguez, sent The Frederick News-Post an audio recording of his speech.

"I am confident that we're headed back to Congress," Trone said to whoops and applause in the downtown Frederick restaurant. "And when we're headed back, we gotta keep fighting for Western Maryland."

Parrott did not respond to a message left on Wednesday through a campaign spokesperson.

In an interview with the News-Post last month, Parrott expressed confidence in his chances. In 2020, the last time he and Trone went head to head for the seat, Parrott was defeated soundly, receiving 39.2% of the vote to Trone's 58.8%.

But the district has since been redrawn. It now includes larger chunks of purple Frederick County and reliably red Washington County, and a smaller part of deep blue Montgomery County.

"People are very, very excited," Parrott said previously. "In Frederick County, especially, because they were the ones who took the brunt of Gov. O'Malley's dividing communities and not allowing us to be together and vote as a bloc."

It's been a heated race between the two candidates.

Backed by nearly $13 million, Trone, a wealthy businessman, has bought advertisements that label Parrott as an "extremist" who is anti-LGBTQ rights, women's rights and an ineffective legislator.

And last month, Parrott hosted a press conference where he accused Trone of misleading voters in a campaign video about his previous position that people who are HIV-positive should get tattoos to mark their status and be treated for the disease.

Parrott, who proposed the tattoo idea in a 2005 letter to the editor of The Herald-Mail in Hagerstown, said he publicly recanted that position 12 years ago.

Follow Angela Roberts on Twitter: @24_angier