John Delaney
Bio | John Delaney is an American politician who is currently running in the 2020 presidential election. He previously served as Maryland’s 6th congressional district. |
Status and Position | Current US House of Representatives of Maryland |
Political Party and Jurisdiction | Democrat, Maryland |
Elections | Election Jurisdiction | Started Campaign | Campaign Status | Poll Rankings (of the vote) |
| 2020 Presidential Election United States | United States | Yes | Dropped Out | N/A |
Campaign Financing | Delaney is not accepting campaign contributions from PACs. He has not made campaign finance a focus of his campaign, but has said that he would support overturning Citizens United. |
Voting Rights | Delaney has a strong record of seeking to strengthen voting rights. As a Congressman, he introduced the Open Our Democracy Act, which sought to ban political gerrymandering and make Election Day a national holiday. He is also an advocate for the Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would require states with histories of voter suppression to have any changes to voting laws approved by the Department of Justice. |
Opinions on Issues
Issues | Stance | Summary |
| Universal Healthcare | Against | Believes it would affect healthcare quality to eliminate private insurance. Delaney is supportive of proposals for universal healthcare, but would opt for his own plan, coined ‘BetterCare’, over Medicare-for-All. This plan would replace the Affordable Care Act and create a public healthcare option that citizens would be able to opt out of in exchange for a tax credit. |
| Socialized Healthcare | For | Voted against bills that would begin the process of repealing the ACA. |
| Private Healthcare | For | Believes it would affect healthcare quality to eliminate private insurance. |
| LGBT Rights | For | Is an advocate for LGBT rights. Delaney is an advocate for LGBT rights, who has received a 100% approval rating from the Human Rights Campaign for his defense of LGBT rights. He was also a member of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus. If elected, he would immediately reverse the Trump-era policy prohibiting transgender people from serving in the military and would seek to implement a federal ban on conversion therapy. He is also supportive of anti-discrimination legislation and has endorsed the Equality Act. |
| Taxes | For | Supports several policies that would increase tax rates. Delaney supports a number of proposals for increased taxation. These include an increased capital gains tax and a new carbon tax. He would also seek to raise corporate tax rates, though still keeping them below the rates that they were before the 2017 GOP tax cuts. Delaney opposes proposals for a wealth tax, and has warned that such taxes are unconstitutional. |
| Flat Tax Rate | Against | Supports progressive tax rates. Delaney supports a number of proposals for increased taxation. These include an increased capital gains tax and a new carbon tax. He would also seek to raise corporate tax rates, though still keeping them below the rates that they were before the 2017 GOP tax cuts. Delaney opposes proposals for a wealth tax, and has warned that such taxes are unconstitutional. |
| Abortion | For | Despite being Catholic, has voted against legislation that would restrict abortion. He opposes the Hyde Amendment. Delaney is a pro-choice candidate who has received a 100% approval rating from NARAL. If elected, he has said that he would seek to repeal the Hyde Amendment. |
| Gun Control | For | Supports several gun control measures. Delaney is an advocate for gun control. He has released a proposal that includes requirements for universal background checks, bans on assault weapons and bump stocks, and increased funding for research into gun violence prevention. |
| Assisted Suicide | For | Believes it should be allowed after psychological exam. Delaney is an advocate for gun control. He has released a proposal that includes requirements for universal background checks, bans on assault weapons and bump stocks, and increased funding for research into gun violence prevention. |
| Government Interference | For | Supports measures such as gun control and environmental regulations. |
| Planned Parenthood | For | Believes Planned Parenthood provides essential healthcare services for women. |
| Welfare | For | Supports expansions of welfare programs. Delaney is an advocate for welfare. As a Congressman, he voted against bills that would impose work requirements on welfare recipients and sponsored legislation to maintain funding for the SNAP program (food stamps). He has said that he would focus on passing bills such as the Food Stamp Act during the first 100 days of his presidency. |
| Welfare | Unknown | Has not made any public statements on the issue. |
| Death Penalty | Against | Would abolish the death penalty. Delaney supports a number of criminal justice reform measures. He has released a proposal that would include a measure to abolish the death penalty. |
| Mandatory Prison Sentence | Against | Supports abolishing mandatory minimums. |
| Military Spending | Nuance | Has said he would not seek to reduce military spending, but has not committed to increasing it, either. |
| War on Terrorism | Nuance | Supports reducing the presence of US troops in Afghanistan, but would not commit to a full withdrawal from the region. |
| Foreign Policy International Interaction | For | Supports several international collaborative efforts and would seek to strengthen relationships with US alliances. Some of Delaney’s foreign policy priorities would include rejoining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and recommitting to global allies and alliances. He would also recommit to NATO and join global initiatives to combat climate change. |
| United Nations power | For | Says he would work with the UN as president. |
| Nationalism | Against | Has specifically condemned 'Trump-style nationalism'. |
| Free Markets | For | Has articulated his belief in the need for free-markets and is especially supportive of free-trade agreements. Delaney opposes protectionist trade measures, and has said that he would immediately rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement that he has vocally supported since its conception, if elected. |
| Brexit | Against | Has said that leaving the EU would be harmful to Britain, but would not suggest staying without a second referendum. |
| Affirmative Action | For | Has defended affirmative action. |
| Government Spending | For | Supports increasing government spending on social programs. |
| Charter Schools | For | Believes that charter schools are important for meeting alternative needs for education. |
| Common Core | Against | Opposes national education standards. Delaney is opposed the universal standards imposed by the Common Core, as he does not see it productive to helping students. |
| Clean Energy | For | Believes the US should increase use of sustainable energy sources. Delaney is an advocate for climate change action, and has released his own climate plan, which would increase federal investments into the development of reliable renewable energy sources. This plan would aim to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. He has also proposed a carbon tax, which he says would reduce carbon emissions by 90% by 2050. |
| Religious Freedom | For | Strong advocate for separation of church and state, does not believe that religious freedom includes the right to discriminate. Delaney does not believe that religious freedom should be able to be used to justify discrimination, particularly against the LGBT community. |
| Separation of Church and State | For | Believes there should be separation between church and state. |
| Slavery Reparations | Unknown | Has not made any public statements. |
| Border Control | For | Would increase funding for border security measures. Delaney is more moderate than many of his Democratic counterparts on the issue of immigration. He believes that border security should be strengthened with a combination of technological methods, increased border patrol presence, and even fencing, a tactic opposed by most Democrats due to its association with Trump’s border wall proposal. |
| Passenger Profiling | Against | Has committed to enact policies to reduce racial profiling in policing if elected. |
| DACA | For | Would grant citizenship to DREAMers. |
| Sanctuary Cities | Unknown | Has not been outspoken on the topic. |
| Legalizing Marijuana | For | Delaney would remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I drugs, effectively decriminalizing it. |