Election Day: 25-Year-Old Matthew Foldi Seeks GOP Nomination in Maryland’s Sixth District

The crowded race for the Republican nomination in Maryland’s newly redrawn Sixth Congressional District comes to a head Tuesday with voters hitting the polls. Matthew Foldi, a 25-year-old investigative journalist who wrote for the Washington Free Beacon, aims to secure the GOP nomination, as does State Delegate Neil Parrott (R-2A), the Republican nominee for the seat in 2020.

In the 2020 election, Rep. David Trone (D-MD) took home 58.9 percent of the vote, beating out Parrott, who garnered 39.2 percent. However, the district heavily favored Democrats until it was redrawn multiple times this year. The new congressional map was initially redistricted to benefit Democrats in the Sixth District, but Anne Arundel County Senior Judge Lynne Battaglia ruled it to be “an extreme gerrymander,” as the Washingon Post noted, and the map was again redrawn and soon approved by Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD). Now the Sixth District is up for grabs for either party, as Republicans look to take a second Congressional seat in the state.

While Parrott hopes to land the nomination to get a crack at a much more winnable race than 2020, Foldi, who touts a myriad of endorsements from GOP leaders– including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Hogan, and Donald Trump, Jr. – is also vying for the nomination.

McCarthy said:

Matthew Foldi’s campaign for Congress is critical to taking back the Republican Majority and stopping the disastrous Biden Agenda. His experience as an investigative reporter will be crucial in helping our new majority hold this White House accountable. Matthew’s strong campaign has expanded the map and I’m confident he can oust another do-nothing Democrat and help us lead on Day One. I am proud to endorse Matthew Foldi for Congress.

Throughout much of his campaign, Foldi had set his eyes on Trone – a co-founder of Total Wine and More who is facing challengers in the Democratic primary. The 25-year-old GOP candidate has dubbed Trone a “Part Time Congressman” after going to his vacant offices around the Sixth District in what he dubbed the “David Trone closed office tour.”

David Trone is a Part Time Congressman

If Trone ran his multi-billion dollar business the way he runs his office, he’d be out of a job

Now, we’re holding him accountable https://t.co/BVchR6XPYb

— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) May 16, 2022

A Trone spokesman claimed  to WCBC that the “accusations” from Foldi about his offices being “routinely closed” were “misinformation which could create confusion for constituents.”

“It’s pathetic that the only way to get David Trone to listen to his constituents is to hold press conferences outside his closed and locked offices for an entire week,” Foldi exclusively told Breitbart News in May following Trone’s spokesman’s response.

“Voters are crystal clear, from one side of this district to the other—we need a full-time congressman to work overtime to bring jobs back to Western Maryland–but David Trone either doesn’t know, or worse, doesn’t care,” Foldi said. “We are suffering 40-year high inflation, increasing crime, and a stagnant economy. Maryland’s seniors, first responders, teachers, and veterans simply can’t afford a congressman who’s hiding from us.”

Meanwhile, Parrot was a plaintiff in one of the multiple lawsuits against the originally drawn Democrat-friendly congressional district. The Washington Post noted that After Battaglia deemed it a violation of the Maryland Constitution, Parrot said:

This decision, should it stand, will not just impact this map, but maps for decades to come because this says you will follow the Maryland Constitution and the rules in the Maryland Constitution when you draw congressional maps. The state said we can draw a line across the state and that would be an equal map as long as the population was equal. … They declared they could do any map they wanted as long as the population was the same and Judge Battaglia said no, you’re going to follow the Maryland Constitution.

While Foldi and Parrott have garnered much of the media attention to this point, four other candidates are also vying for the Republican nomination. Puerto Rico-born Air Force veteran Dr. Mariela Roca is also in the mix. She served in Afghanistan and received a “National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with 1 Service Star, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal,” among several other medals, as her campaign page states. She also holds a doctorate in business administration.

Iraq War veteran Sergeant Jonathon Jenkins, a Marine Corps gunnery sergeant, is on the ballot Tuesday as well, in addition to Colt Black, a licensed mortician who operates Black’s Funeral Home & the Cremation Society of Monocracy Valley. Robert Possonnier, who previously served in law enforcement, is also vying for the Republican nomination. 

Whoever wins will most likely face Trone and his slew of resources in the general election. As Politico pointed out, he “recently loaned himself $10 million for the race and said in an interview he would be willing to spend more.”