MCCLAIN-DELANEY
April

• 1. Legal career

April McClain-Delaney is an American lawyer, government official, and politician who served as an official of the U.S. Department of Commerce during the Biden administration. A member of the Democratic Party, in 2024 she won the U.S. House of Representatives election in Maryland's 6th congressional district after prevailing from a crowded primary and defeating Republican former state delegate Neil Parrott in the general election. She is the wife of former Congressman John Delaney, who represented the 6th district from 2013 to 2019.

Legal career

McClain-Delaney practiced as a media lawyer for much of her career. In 2006, she founded the Washington, D.C. division of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit advocacy group focusing on the effects of online and televised media on children, serving as the division director. She was appointed by president Joe Biden in January 2022 to the Department of Commerce, serving as the deputy administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration until her resignation in September 2023.

While John was a member of Congress, McClain-Delaney served as the chair of the Congressional Club's First Lady Luncheon and was a co-chairwoman for the National Prayer Breakfast. She also played an "abnormally active" role in her husband's 2020 presidential campaign, during which she criticized the role of social media in the Democratic primaries, saying that the platforms' focus on the divisive political climate limited Delaney's centrist message.