The five Democrats who want to serve the 6th congressional district largely agreed on issues at a candidate forum in Gaithersburg on Sunday afternoon.
"Our policies are the same, but our perspective is not," said Ron Little, an anti-trust attorney who lives in Gaithersburg.
Laslo Boyd, political consultant and columnist for The Gazette, offered questions from the audience.
Little, former public defender Charles Bailey, business executive John Delaney, Sen. Rob Garagiola, and Dr. Milad Pooran, an AIDS researcher at the National Institutes of Health, face off in the April 3 primary. The winner faces the Republican nominee on Nov. 6. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, a Republican from Buckeystown, has represented the 6th district since 1992. He faces seven challengers.
The five men all pledged to protect a woman's right to choose an abortion, all supported a path to citizenship for immigrants, diplomacy with Iran, and an elimination of a cap on Social Security taxes to keep the trust fund solvent.
All expressed support for President Obama's health care legislation. All supported an increase in the capital gains tax, though Delaney said investments in small businesses should be taxed at a lower rate than in large corporations. Garagiola said he supported making capital gains tax rates progressive.
Bailey said he would support earmark reform in the second year of his term. First he wanted money to revitalize the C&O Canal, which would bring jobs to 6th District small businesses.
The two-hour forum — hosted by District 17, District 19, District 39 and African American Democratic Clubs — drew about 160 people in the Activity Center at Bohrer Park in Gaithersburg.
Former delegate Cheryl Kagan and others tweeted throughout the forum.
Editor's note: The original version of this story incorrectly reported Delaney's and Garagiola's positions on capital gains tax rates.
As one of the sponsors of SB459, Rob Garagiola is collaborating on deceptive legislation. 1. In a 5-2 vote, the Montgomery Village Foundation Board of Directors (MVF BOD) passed the South Valley Restroom and Concession measure dependent on approval of a $125,000 state of Maryland Bond Bill earmark funding. 2. Instead of requesting a grant to build the South Valley Restroom and Concession, SB459 requests $125,000 for the design and construction of the Montgomery Village South Valley Park. The language in the Bond Bill synopsis makes it appear that the $125,000 will be used to design and construct the entire South Valley Park, a park that has existed for forty years. What is being sought is not a park but a structure to house restrooms with two stalls for women and one stall and a urinal for men plus a concession. In effect this language hides the real nature of the project. This misrepresentation will deceive the senators and delegates who rely on the language in the synopsis and think they are voting for one thing when in fact they are voting for something entirely different. This deceptive bill SB459 should be deleted from further consideration, and a full explanation of this needs to be provided by Bond Bill sponsors beginning with who drafted the deceptive language. Don O'Neill Montgomery Village
FALSE. http://ronlittle4congress.com/issues/qa-your-questions/ Ron Little is not only the only talking about the issues, he takes questions from voters and puts them up on his Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Ron-Little/281000175289987 I've seen Dr. Pooran at a forum. He didn't seem very different from Rob or John to me.