Former state Del. Neil Parrott of Washington County, a Republican, and communications attorney April McClain Delaney, a Montgomery County Democrat, remain locked in a tight race in the 6th Congressional District in Maryland.

The district, which stretches from the Washington suburbs through Western Maryland, leans Democratic in its voter registration but has become the state’s most closely contested House district.

With most precincts reporting Tuesday, McClain Delaney was ahead by 315 votes.

Across Maryland, hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots remain to be counted, which could affect a handful of races, but it’s not likely the 6th Congressional District will one of them.

According to the state election board, there are a little over 58,000 remaining mail-in ballots, or 57%, to be counted in the 6th District. In total, 102,984 mail-in ballots were sent to voters who requested them.

But Paul Ellington, former executive director of the Maryland Republican Party and chief of staff to former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R), said it won’t be enough to take Parrott over the top.

“By far and away it will just widen the gap,” Ellington, said in an interview with The Sun. “It’s unfortunate that they don’t count them faster. That’s the way it works in Maryland. A lot of other states count them as they receive them.”

Currently there are 205,555 registered Democrats in the District, 175,738 Republicans, and 131,400 Unaffiliated voters. Other smaller parties make up the total number of 521,869 eligible registered voters in the District, according to updated figures on the state election board website.

The race was being closely watched by both national parties because it could bear on which party controls the House.

Parrott, a conservative, previously lost to current Rep. David Trone twice, most recently by 54% to 45% in 2022. His campaign has been aided financially by the House Freedom Fund, which supports right-wing House candidates such as Florida’s Byron Donalds and Colorado’s Lauren Boebert.

Trone, a Democrat who has held the seat since 2019, chose not to run for reelection and instead sought the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin’s retirement. Trone lost in the primary to Angela Alsobrooks.

McClain Delaney, a communications attorney from Montgomery County, is married to former Rep. John Delaney, who held the seat until 2019.

She emphasized abortion rights and women’s safety and called Parrott hard-right “extreme.”

Parrott said during campaign events that he knows the district because he is from there and criticizes her for living in a Potomac neighborhood just outside the district line.

The district stretches from Montgomery County, a very blue Washington suburb, through purple Frederick County and into the far western region known.

Parrott was vying to become the first Republican from one of the three westernmost counties to win the seat since Allegany County Republican J. Glenn Beall Jr., won it 54 years ago.

Republicans gained ground in the district following the 2020 census when state lawmakers subtracted a portion of Montgomery County in redistricting and added voters in Frederick County, where voter registration is more evenly split between the parties.

The new district was drawn by state Democrats after a judge rejected their initial version of the state’s congressional map as “a product of extreme partisan gerrymandering.”

Have a news tip or question about this story? Contact politics editor Candy Woodall at cwoodall@baltsun.com.