BALTIMORE — As voters cast ballots in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District primary, U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney and former Rep. David Trone are spending heavily on digital advertising that attacks each other’s records on abortion, immigration and ties to Republicans, particularly President Donald Trump.

A Baltimore Sun review of ads that ran from May 23 to June 16 found some of the claims are true, while others are misleading or false.

Campaigns use ads to persuade voters to support or oppose a specific candidate, drawing on their records as evidence. But ads with incorrect information could also push voters to take action under pretenses. Election law experts said federal law related to speech and campaigning has loopholes that allow campaigns to say whatever they want.

Donald Tobin, an election law professor at the University of Maryland’s Carey School of Law, said free speech protections have rewarded political campaigns that exaggerate opponents’ records.

“The Supreme Court has been fairly skeptical about laws that restrict free speech in the context of political campaigns even if the speech is thought to potentially be false,” Tobin said, referring to the court’s 2012 decision that struck down a federal law criminalizing false statements made about having a military medal.

Here’s how accurate the claims both campaigns made are:

Rep. April McClain Delaney voted to restrict abortion access in the military — MISLEADING

Trone’s campaign ran an ad that said, “April McClain Delaney was the only Maryland Democrat to vote to lock down abortion restrictions on women in the military.” The former congressman, seeking to win his former seat in Maryland’s 6th District, paid as much as $6,000 for the ad, which was shown as many as 175,000 times.

Trone’s claims are misleading.

McClain Delaney last September voted to pass the House of Representatives’ version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which primarily funds the U.S. Military.

The bill also included Republican-introduced amendments that rejected efforts to protect abortion access and banned gender-affirming care for those in the military — which the congresswoman voted against. Following her vote, McClain Delaney said she opposed “every single” GOP-introduced amendment passed by members collectively saying “aye” or “nay.” The Library of Congress does not provide the results of each member’s voice vote. She added that she voted to pass the final NDAA because it raised pay for servicemembers and expanded their access to reproductive and family healthcare.

Amendment votes for funding bills are held separately from the final passage vote, and lawmakers sometimes vote against amendments while still voting for the underlying legislation.

Still, the congresswoman maintains support for abortion rights. Her campaign website says she supports “a woman’s right to choose” and that she will support the Women’s Health Protection Act, which aims to enshrine national abortion protections into federal law.

Trone is working with Republicans to ban abortions — FALSE

McClain Delaney’s campaign alleged that Trone and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are working “together pushing for a constitutional convention empowering the radical right to put an abortion ban into our constitution.” The congresswoman’s campaign spent as much as $125,000 to have an ad played almost 3.5 million times.

Her campaign’s claims are false.

Trone and DeSantis are co-chairs of a national campaign advocating for members of Congress to have term limits. In October, the two leaders co-wrote a New York Times op-ed in which they suggested that states hold amendment-writing conventions should Congress fail to pass legislation related to term limits.

Trone and DeSantis also spoke about their campaign during a Fox News segment, which McClain Delaney’s campaign referenced in her ad. There was no mention of abortion in the segment.

McClain Delaney voted for the Laken Riley Act — TRUE

Trone’s campaign spent almost $25,000 on one ad noting that McClain Delaney was the only Maryland Democrat to vote for the Laken Riley Act. The law, among other provisions, requires federal detention of some undocumented immigrants accused of certain crimes.

McClain Delaney did vote for the Laken Riley Act.

However, she has since expressed regret about that vote, telling The Sun last month that she supported the measure largely because her constituents favored it. The congresswoman also told other news outlets she had not anticipated the extent of ICE enforcement actions that followed.

McClain Delaney is consistently against President Donald Trump — MISLEADING

The congresswoman’s campaign called her “a dependable fighter against Trump,” spending almost $225,000 on one ad that played nearly 7 million times.

While McClain Delaney has largely voted against Trump’s agenda, her ad skips over her previous support of some Republican-backed immigration measures.

In addition to the Laken Riley Act, the congresswoman voted with Republicans to pass the Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act.

Most House Democrats opposed the bill, arguing that existing law already addressed many of its provisions and raising concerns about how broadly it defined certain crimes.

Trone is a champion of women’s rights — MISLEADING

Trone’s campaign ran an ad in which former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Trone has “stood on the front line of the fight for women’s equality.”

Trone has publicly supported abortion rights. However, TIME Magazine in 2024 published an investigation revealing that Trone’s private company, Retail Services and Systems, donated to political candidates staunchly against abortion rights during his time in office. Trone’s campaign distanced him from these donations, noting that he didn’t approve them and had stepped down as CEO of Total Wines, a subsidiary of Retail Services and Systems, before he got to Congress.

Between 2019 and 2024, according to the investigation, the company contributed at least $80,200 to Georgia Republicans who supported legislation banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

The company also donated $12,000 in late 2022 to two groups working to elect Wisconsin Republicans during debates over the state’s abortion laws.

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