Parrott called Trone to concede on Friday afternoon, both campaigns confirmed.
Trone’s victory allows Democrats to notch one more win in the still-closely fought battle for control of the U.S. House, which remains unresolved. Republican hopes of a big red wave collapsed spectacularly after Democrats defied expectations to hang onto seats in numerous tough districts while avoiding slews of upset-surprises in others, like Maryland’s 6th, where most political analysts considered Trone the favorite despite Parrott’s spirited challenge.
The rematch between Trone and Parrott was seen as Maryland’s most exciting congressional race, where Parrott hoped a strong grass roots game and broad dissatisfaction with the economy and President Biden could overpower Trone’s enormous personal wealth and incumbent advantage.
But, after Trone, the co-founder of Total Wine & More, invested more than $12 million of his money into his campaign, he largely dominated Parrott on the airwaves, painting him as “extreme” on abortion and other social issues while having large latitude to showcase his personal mission. Trone’s huge financial advantage largely deterred any major investment from national Republicans, leaving Parrott to try to pull off an upset with minimal resources. Parrott had raised roughly $800,000 this year.
Trone had routed Parrott, an engineer and longtime Maryland delegate, in 2020. But the race became more competitive this year after redistricting made the 6th District redder — largely thanks to Parrott’s own personal crusades against partisan gerrymandering in Annapolis. He and several other Republicans won a lawsuit that led to a new congressional map this year that gave Republicans a shot in the Western Maryland district.
But even though the district lost some bluer D.C. suburbs, it retained a significant portion of populous deep-blue Montgomery County, where Trone clobbered Parrott, who couldn’t make up the difference despite his apparent popularity in redder — but less populous — Western Maryland.
Trone took a narrow lead in the race late Thursday night, including in purple Frederick County, after more mail-in ballots were counted and reported. And while thousands are left to count — particularly in Montgomery — his lead is only expected to grow. Parrott acknowledged that is what led him to call Trone to congratulate him Friday.
Despite the loss, Parrott’s campaign found silver linings, believing the “extreme partisan gerrymander” of the previous congressional map has been corrected and Marylanders got to have a “real say” in who they elect for Congress this year.
“While this wasn’t the outcome we wanted, it isn’t a defeat and it isn’t the end,” Parrott said in a statement. “We unified the Republican Party in western Maryland. We faced an overwhelming spending disadvantage that scared off national Republicans. We fought – and won – in court so that this district is fair and competitive, and the people of the sixth district will never be taken for granted again.”
Trone was first elected in 2018, projecting an image as a centrist wanting to use his business chops in Congress to strike bipartisan deals. “You can’t just pass a bill with only messaging. That won’t do anything. That’s a waste of my life,” Trone told a roomful of Democratic voters in Gaithersburg last month, before cracking: “So I go in there, I eat the chili-cheese dogs with the Republicans. The Democrats — our cloakroom is mostly veggie burgers.”
He became the co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force on Mental Health and Addiction, devoting much of his service in Congress to issues that have been personal to him. His nephew died of a fentanyl-related overdose in 2016, an experience Trone has said made him want to lead bipartisan legislation boosting mental health and addiction resources to aid people struggling with substance abuse to find treatment. He’s also sought to steer the criminal justice system away from jailing people as a solution for the drug addiction crisis, something that had happened with his nephew.
Some of the local allies he has worked with on that mission appeared in emotional campaign ads for Trone. Western Maryland has had its own challenges with the opioid epidemic, particularly in the pandemic. “David believed in us,” Kevin Simmers, who lost his daughter to an overdose and has connected with Trone, said in one ad. “For every person who is suffering from substance abuse disorder, there’s no bigger champion than David Trone.”
Trone had also talked up his backstory as the son of a farmer in numerous ads; he’s often told the story of the foreclosure of his father’s farm, seeking to forge connections in rural areas of the district. His work on some agricultural issues in Congress helped Trone earn support from Maryland’s Farm Bureau, along with several other Maryland incumbents. But some conservative voters were still skeptical. “You see these commercials, people would think he’s this country slicker — that’s not even close,” a Frederick County voter rooting for Parrott, James Parise, had said at the rally Cruz held for him last month. “But that’s not to say he didn’t work hard and build a business, Total Wine & More, and it funds his campaign.”
Numerous conservative voters said they were excited for Parrott’s competitive bid considering it has been a decade since a Republican has represented this region of the state. Parrott, one of the most conservative members of the Maryland State House, pumped up supporters with pledges to rein in government spending, close the U.S.-Mexico border, empower parents in their children’s education and create a “place where life is protected from the beginning to the end of life.”
Trone had gone after Parrott’s staunch opposition to abortion in ads that spoke to post-Roe concerns about abortion rights. Parrott, a social conservative who has sought to repeal the state’s legalization of same-sex marriage, had previously led a 20-week abortion ban proposal and said he would support a 15-week ban in Congress.
But while political analysts considered the overturn of Roe and Parrott’s social conservatism to be benefits for Trone in purple turf, they also saw Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox as a drag on Parrott, potentially depressing Republican excitement that would be needed to carry Parrott to victory.
Cox lost to Gov.-elect Wes Moore (D) by more than 20 percentage points.
This article has been updated to add a statement from Parrott.