As they campaign for an open seat in Maryland’s most competitive House race, Republican Neil Parrott and Democrat April McClain Delaney are attempting to settle a question: What does it mean to be local?

Parrott lives in Hagerstown, smack in the middle of the 6th District, which sweeps in deep-red terrain in the state’s panhandle and heavily blue Washington suburbs. He represented Western Maryland as a state delegate for 12 years.

McClain Delaney says her policy platform — which includes protecting abortion rights and improving infrastructure — is more consistent with the voters’ views. She lives eight miles outside the district in Potomac and worked in the Biden administration.

She calls Parrott’s record as a delegate “out of control extreme.” He calls her an outsider who doesn’t understand voters’ concerns about inflation and immigration.

Since redistricting in 2022, the 6th District has included all of Garrett, Allegany, Washington and Frederick counties, as well as northern Montgomery County. Here, Democrats outnumber Republicans by just six percentage points, and one in four registered voters is an independent.

House elections in Democrat-dominated Maryland often turn into an afterthought following the spring primaries. But the little polling available on the 6th District suggests a tight race: Parrott led, 41% to 39%, in a Gonzales Research & Media Services survey released in early September, with 20% undecided. The result was within the 5.6-point margin of error.

“Maryland is not a competitive battleground, yet within it is this district,” pollster Patrick Gonzales said. “I think it’s dead even.”

Parrott is the better known of the two candidates. In the Gonzales poll, 51% said they hadn’t heard of McClain Delaney, compared to 34% who didn’t know Parrott. Her name recognition was lowest outside the Democratic stronghold of Montgomery County.

This is Parrott’s third campaign for the 6th District. He lost in 2020 and 2022 to Democrat David Trone — another Potomac resident, who relinquished his seat in an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate.

McClain Delaney is seeking elected office for the first time. Her husband, John Delaney, was Trone’s predecessor, representing the 6th District from 2013 to 2019. A wealthy former financial executive, Delaney chose not to seek reelection in 2018 and instead focus on what would become a self-financed and ultimately brief run for president in 2020.

“I well know this district,” McClain Delaney said in an interview. “I’ve traveled it. ... This district has always been my home.”

Where she lives, McClain Delaney said, “is really kind of irrelevant.” The U.S. Constitution only requires House members to reside in the state they represent.

“The important part is that you show up everywhere, are an experienced, effective advocate, have great constituent services and actually do the job,” she said, citing Trone as an example.

McClain Delaney, 60, grew up in a potato farming family in Buhl, Idaho, a story she tells on the campaign trail through some of the most rural and conservative counties in Maryland. She spent 15 years in the nonprofit sector on what she’s called her life’s passion, protecting children’s safety and privacy online, and most recently served as a deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Commerce.

McClain Delaney said she entered the race in large part to protect access to abortion, vowing that on her first day in office she would co-sponsor legislation restoring Roe v. Wade. McClain Delaney talks about the issue in personal terms: A mother of four daughters, she survived life-threatening bleeding during an ectopic pregnancy.

She has attacked Parrott for signing onto a bill that would have provided constitutional protections to people “from the beginning of their biological development.” He also introduced bills in the state legislature that would have banned abortion after 20 weeks, with exceptions for medical emergencies but not rape or incest.

The measures stood no chance of passing in a Democrat-dominated legislature, but to McClain Delaney, Parrott’s stance on abortion underscores that he is out of touch with his constituents.

“He might be living on another planet in terms of where most of the people in the district are,” she said.

Parrott, 54, has played down social issues on the campaign trail and recently scrubbed mentions of abortion, critical race theory and transgender athletes from his campaign’s website, a Banner review of internet archives found.

In an interview, he dismissed abortion as “a non-issue in this congressional race,” arguing that neither party has the votes to enact a national law.

“She’s using [abortion] to scare people,” Parrott said. “What really does matter is: What are we going to do with the inflation? Are we going to close that border? And are we going to work for more jobs? She’s on the wrong side of all three of those issues.”

For both candidates, the economy dominates the campaign. McClain Delaney said she wants to lower the costs of housing, health care and child care.

“When they go vote for me, they’re voting for the local guy,” Parrott said. “They’re voting for someone who actually understands. I feel the squeeze of inflation. Delaney, she lives in a mansion in the D.C. suburbs.”

McClain Delaney has tried in recent weeks to expand her visibility throughout the district, appearing with Trone in Allegany and Garrett counties and with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks at a meet-and-greet in Frederick that drew hundreds. Later that day, she posed for photos, salsa danced and spoke with voters about issues like education and affordability at the Frederick Hispanic Heritage Festival.

Still, even some of her supporters worry it’s not enough. Hagerstown Mayor Tekesha Martinez, who lost to McClain Delaney in the Democratic primary, said she will vote for her but is disappointed in her outreach to rural Western Maryland voters.

“David Trone was here,” Martinez said of the outgoing three-term congressman. “He was in the community center. He was meeting with folks where they were at.”

She said McClain Delaney may be taking the area for granted. “It’s already pretty much like, ‘Oh, I got this,’ ” Martinez said.

With her ties to the Biden administration and endorsements from national figures like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, McClain Delaney has battled a perception that she is better connected to D.C. than the district she wants to represent.

According to an analysis of campaign finance data by OpenSecrets, only 1% of McClain Delaney’s individual contributions have come from within the district, compared to 38% for Parrott. She has also sunk nearly $1.9 million of her own money into the contest.

Local conservatives say they’re tired of deep-pocketed Potomac Democrats like Trone and McClain Delaney representing the district. A Republican has not held the seat since 2012, when Democrats used a gerrymandered map to oust Roscoe Bartlett, a 10-term congressman from Frederick County.

“People here want to see Western Maryland get a bigger seat at the table than what we’ve traditionally had with our federal delegation over the years,” said state House Minority Leader Jason Buckel, an Allegany County Republican. “We hope and believe that Neil could be a big part of that.”

For Parrott, the challenge is in connecting with the voter-dense, and bluer, parts of Montgomery and Frederick counties. At a recent parade in Poolesville, as he marched alongside a Black dance troupe, senior pickleball club and group of children waving Pride flags, his campaign distributed materials that read, “He’s one of us.”

While Parrott has tried branding himself as the local guy, McClain Delaney has argued that the real focus should be on his record as a state legislator. She has criticized the Republican for voting against bills that repealed spousal defense provisions for rape and sexual assault, protected LGBTQ+ people from discrimination and banned conversion therapy.

“At times, [Parrott] has been disparaging towards the queer community, and other times, he’s been indifferent,” said state Del. Kris Fair, a Frederick County Democrat who chairs the legislative LGBTQ+ caucus. “Either way, April McClain Delaney represents the values of a vast majority of our citizens, including the most vulnerable.”

In the latest sign of how competitive the 6th District is, both national parties designated it as a key race, committing organizational and financial resources to bolster the candidates in the final weeks before the Nov. 5 election.

McClain Delaney maintains a number of advantages. As of this summer, she had outraised Parrott more than 2-to-1 and outspent him nearly 8-to-1. (New campaign finance reports become available next week.)

And Maryland’s Democratic voters may turn out in greater-than-usual numbers to support two top-of-the-ticket women, Alsobrooks and Vice President Kamala Harris. A state abortion rights ballot measure may also animate those voters, potentially helping down-ballot Democrats like McClain Delaney.

With stakes high and less than a month until Election Day, the campaign has become increasingly contentious.

At the end of a candidate forum Sunday in Frederick, Parrott accused McClain Delaney of lying about his record. After the Democrat pushed back, the two had a fiery confrontation, talking over each other and pointing in each other’s faces before Parrott walked off stage.

When the Republican returned, McClain Delaney extended her hand. The candidates exchanged a terse handshake.

This article has been updated to clarify McClain Delaney's critique of Parrott's stance on abortion.