A 28-year-old Marine veteran who announced this week he is running in Maryland's 6th Congressional District is calling on the well-financed Democratic incumbent in that district to limit campaign spending to $500,000.
David E. Vogt III of Brunswick is seeking to reclaim for Republicans the district Democratic Rep. John Delaney won last year by beating longtime GOP incumbent Roscoe G. Bartlett. Vogt, now a full-time graduate student, has not previously run for political office.
Delaney spent $4.1 million in his campaign last year -- roughly half of it his own money. The campaign will be uphill fight for any Republican, not only because Delaney (or any incumbent, for that matter) is unlikely to agree to curb spending but also because the new district boundaries will make the seat less competitive in future elections.
Delaney beat Bartlett 59 percent to 38 percent.
Vogt served in the Marines for eight years on active duty, from 2004 until 2012, including a tour in Afghanistan, He will face Daniel Bongino in the Republican primary election, a former Secret Service agent who won the GOP nominate for U.S. Senate last year but lost in the general election to incumbent Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.
"John ran as a moderate representing a district that has a large moderate conservative base," Vogt -- whose name is pronounced "vote" -- said in an interview. "He talks as a moderate but he votes straight party line…we, as a country, need to be more fiscally responsible."