Roger Manno has been in the General Assembly since 2007.
Frederick, Md (KM). A Montgomery County State Senator has entered the race for the 6th District Congressional Seat. Roger Manno threw his hat into the ring this week. He’s one of five Democrats seeking the seat now held by Representative John Delaney, whose decided not to seek re-election to Congress in 2018 and run for President in 2020.
Manno was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2006. He successfully ran for the State Senate in 2010, and was re-elected in 2014. “I believe that’s no one’s ever going to work harder for the folks in the 6th District than I will based on my record and based on my service in the 19th District and, before that, working on Capitol Hill. So I think it’s a natural transition for me,” he said.
Manno worked for three members of Congress: one for Georgia, one from Texas and one from New York. He was also part of the White house Working Group of State Legislators for Health Reform, which helped the Obama Administration pass the Affordable Care Act.
One of his issues Manno says he will discuss during his campaign is health care, which he says is a concern for the middle class, not just low income families. “We need to provide a basic package of services to folks that’s affordable, that’s good quality,” he says. “The whole health care funding situation is taking up way too much of folks’ hard earned money in their budget.”
While in the General Assembly, Manno says he’s worked with other legislators, including Frederick County State Senator Ron Young, on ways to bring back manufacturing jobs to Maryland, and he would like to continue that effort in Congress. . “Those are good jobs. The average median household income of a manufacturing worker in heavy manufacturing in the country is $65,000 a year. Those are great jobs. Those are middle class jobs. But we don’t have enough of them,” he says.
A lot has been said about the partisan rancor in Washington, where Democrats and Republicans refuse to work with each other to get things done. Manno hopes to get beyond that, and work across the aisle. “It is doable. But the first thing that has to happen is you got to take your party hat off and sit down at that table. I believe I prepared to do it. I’ve done that before,” says Manno.
The other Democrats running for Congress from the 6th District are Andrew Duck, David Trone, Aruna Miller and Bill Frick.
Primary election day is June 28th, 2018. The general election is November 6th, 2018.
By Kevin McManus