Rep. Andy Harris gets GOP challenger in 2024 primary - find out who's jumped in the race
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While the major movement in Maryland’s congressional delegation is the selection next year of a new United States senator, the shifting sands of political announcements have begun to pile up.
Here's a roundup of recent political announcements in Maryland, starting with a new GOP primary opponent for Rep. Andy Harris in 2024.
Candidates in the 1st Congressional District
Rep. Andy Harris, R-1st, whose district encompasses the Eastern Shore, has been the sole Republican in the state’s congressional delegation for more than a decade. He also has exceeded his own pledge on terms, starting his seventh term in the U.S. House earlier this year.
Harris is being challenged in the Republican primary by Chris Bruneau, a U.S. Army veteran and business owner, who has filed with the Federal Election Commission, and announced his candidacy earlier this month. Neither has filed with the State Board of Elections.
As for Democrats, none have yet filed in the 1st Congressional District.
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Rep. Jamie Raskin contemplating his Senate candidacy
The most important Democrat in determining what the state’s congressional delegation will look like in 2024 may be former state senator and current U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-8th, whose district is now entirely in Montgomery County, outside Washington, D.C.
He told NPR in an article published online on June 27 that he has written two speeches: one announcing his candidacy for U.S. Senate and one announcing his reelection campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives.
“I am taking a month or so to carefully assess and reflect upon the overall political context in the country and in Maryland,” said Raskin, in a statement in early May.
He is the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, once led by Maryland U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings.
Raskin would lose his seat in the House in January 2025 were he to run for U.S. Senate to succeed Ben Cardin, who has announced he won't run again in 2024. He told CNN this month he hopes to decide before the Fourth of July.
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Neil Parrott forms exploratory committee for House seat
On Tuesday, perennial and persistent congressional candidate Republican Neil Parrott announced he has formed an exploratory committee for the seat in U.S. Congress vacated by his 2022 opponent Rep. David Trone, D-6th, who has announced his candidacy in the U.S. Senate race to succeed Cardin.
“My wife and I are talking and praying about whether to run in the 2024 election,” said Parrott, a former state delegate, in a release, a day after he filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. He is not yet among the handful of candidates who have filed with the State Board of Elections.
As late as New Year’s Eve of last year, Parrott petitioned for campaign contributions to pay off debts after a second unsuccessful attempt to win the district that Trone, a wine retailer, won again with a loan of over $10 million of his own. Parrott is planning a fundraising event July 7.
In his last message to supporters last year, Parrott said: “We have set the framework to get two Republican Congressmen in Maryland,” referring to the lawsuit he filed that reshaped the Sixth Congressional District, made it more contiguous, and, as an effect, more competitive for his party.
Trone announced his candidacy for Senate four months after starting his third term in Congress, waiting three days after Cardin said he wouldn’t run in 2024.
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Other candidates in the 6th Congressional District
Mariela Roca, who ran against Parrott last year, along with Brenda Thiam, who served for two sessions with Parrott in the state Legislature, are among the other Republicans who have registered with the Federal Election Commission in the state’s 6th Congressional District.
Roca has also filed with the State Board of Elections, as have Republicans Chris Hyser, a retired state trooper, and Todd Puglisi, a McDonald’s employee who ran for U.S. Senate in 2022.
Democrat Destiny Drake West, the founder and CEO of a policy institute, who has worked in various unelected roles in county, state and federal government, also filed with the Federal Election Commission for the 6th Congressional District seat.
State delegates Joe Vogel and Lesley Lopez, both Democrats representing Montgomery County districts, have also filed with the Federal Election Commission for the seat. Neither has filed with the state board. Each retains their seats in the state Legislature.
Other Democrats who have filed with the state in the 6th District include Stephen McDow, once the director of membership for the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce, and George Gluck, a mathematician who ran in last year’s primary, receiving less than 3,000 votes.
Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: GOP challenger to Rep. Andy Harris emerges for 2024 primary
