John Delaney (Maryland politician)

John Kevin Delaney (born April 16, 1963) is an American politician and businessman who has been the United States Representative for Maryland's 6th congressional district since 2013. The district, the state's second-largest, includes nearly the entire western portion of the state, but the bulk of its vote is cast in the outer suburbs of Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Delaney grew up in New Jersey, where his father worked as an electrician. Scholarships helped him attend college thanks to his father’s labor union (IBEW Local 164) as well as the American Legion, VFW, and the Lions Club. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Georgetown University Law Center. In February 2015, Delaney received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.

Delaney has co-founded two companies, both of which are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. He has won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

In 1993, he co-founded Health Care Financial Partners, to make loans available to smaller-sized health care service providers purportedly ignored by larger banks. HCFP became public in 1996, and became an NYSE company in 1998.

In 2000, Delaney co-founded CapitalSource, a commercial lender headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland; the company provided capital to roughly 5,000 small and mid-size businesses before his departure.

CapitalSource continued to be publicly traded on the NYSE after Delaney's election, making him the only former CEO of a publicly traded company serving in the 113th United States Congress. In 2014, the lender was absorbed by PacWest Bancorp.

2012 election

After redistricting, Delaney decided to run for the newly redrawn 6th District against 10-term Republican incumbent Roscoe Bartlett. The district had long been a Republican stronghold, but it had been significantly reconfigured. The Maryland General Assembly shifted heavily Republican Carroll County and a mostly Republican section of Frederick County to the heavily Democratic 8th district. It shifted Republican-tilting sections of Harford and Baltimore counties into the already heavily Republican 1st district.

Taking their place was a heavily Democratic section of Montgomery County. The shifts were quite controversial, as Republicans accused Democrats of shifting district boundaries in their favor, while Democrats, led by Governor Martin O'Malley, insist the redrawn districts are fair and accurate representations of the state's population trends.

During the primary, Delaney was endorsed by former President Bill Clinton, U.S. Congresswoman Donna Edwards, Comptroller Peter Franchot, the Washington Post, and the Gazette.

On April 3, 2012, Delaney won the five-candidate Democratic primary field with 54% of the vote. The next closest opponent, State Senator Robert J. Garagiola, received 29% of the vote, 25 points behind Delaney.

In the November 6, 2012 general election, Delaney defeated Bartlett by 59%-38%, a 21-point margin. He won mostly on the strength of a nearly 56,000-vote margin in Montgomery County, which accounted for almost all of the overall margin of 58,900 votes.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
• Joint Economic Committee

Legislation sponsored

Key legislation which Delaney has sponsored:

• Medical Leave for Disabled Veterans Act (H.R. 5165; 114th Congress) - a bill that would relax the criteria for eligible veterans to qualify for FMLA to seek medical treatment for their service-connected disabilities.
• Veterans' Advisory Committee on Education Improvement Act of 2013 (H.R. 2011; 113th Congress) - a bill that would extend through the end of 2015 the Veterans' Advisory Committee on Education and change its membership.
• Partnership to Build America Act of 2013 (H.R. 2084; 113th Congress) - a bill that would establish the American Infrastructure Fund (AIF).
• Medical Foods Equity Act of 2013 (H.R. 3665; 113th Congress) - a bill that would extend coverage of medical foods, vitamins, and amino acids to those with metabolic disorders.

• Lake, Brett (September 9, 2012). "Officials, experts explain views on new districts". Caroll County Times. Retrieved August 11, 2016. 
• Ben Pershing (April 4, 2012). "Delaney, Md. Democrats work to show unified front after newcomer's primary win". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 15, 2012. 
• Editorial Board (March 10, 2012). "John Delaney for Md.'s 6th District". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 15, 2012. 
• "Delaney, Bartlett for Congress in 6th District". Gazette.Net. Retrieved November 15, 2012. 
• "MD District 06 - D Primary Race". Our Campaigns. April 3, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2016. 
• "Maryland State Board of Elections". Elections.state.md.us. Retrieved November 15, 2012. 
• "MD - District 06 Race". Our Campaigns. November 6, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2016. 
• "H.R. 5165 - Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved May 4, 2016. 
• "H.R. 2011 - Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved October 29, 2013. 
• "H.R. 2084 - Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved January 14, 2014. 
• "H.R. 3665 - Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved January 14, 2014. 

Delaney and his wife April have four daughters. His wife is the Washington, D.C. Director for Common Sense Media, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating families on social media. Two of his daughters attend Northwestern University.

He was a member of the Board of Directors of several organizations: St. Patrick's Episcopal Day School (Chairman), Georgetown University, National Symphony Orchestra, and the International Center for Research on Women.