Representative David Trone Visits Campus

He is one of several candidates vying to represent the Democrats in the race for a Maryland seat in the U.S. Senate next year and kicked off his fact-finding tour of higher education institutions in the state at Washington College.

Rep. Trone speaks to an audience in the atrium of the Toll Science Center. David Trone, who has represented Maryland’s 6th congressional district in the House of Representatives since 2019, spoke at the College December 7 to an audience of students and community members. Earlier that day, he had spoken with members of the College’s Board of Governors and Visitors and President Mike Sosulski about education in general and Washington College in particular. 

Trone told the audience that if elected to the Senate, he would be the only sitting Senator who has not taken political action committee (PAC), lobbyist, or corporation money to fund his campaign. He acknowledged that he was lucky to be wealthy enough to fund his own campaign. Nonetheless, in his opinion, not being beholden to wealthy donors and corporations put him in the unique position of being able to represent the people of his district and the country without outside interference. As he said, “No one will ever own me.”

Rep. Trone with members of the College Democrats and PoliTalks after the event.

Trone was invited to Washington College by Stephen Hook '25, who serves as the vice chairperson on the Maryland Higher Education Commission Student Advisory Council and made the connections and arrangements. Passionate about creating forums for Washington students and the campus overall to come together and have political discourse in civil and productive ways, Hook started the student group PoliTalks, which hosted Trone along with the College Democrats.

Trone spoke at length about his efforts to work “across the political aisle” with Republicans on issues he is passionate about, including the opioid epidemic, drug and alcohol addiction, mental health issues, criminal justice reform, structural racism, the climate crisis, and education. He created the Trone Center for Justice and Equality at the ACLU to fight injustice in the criminal justice system.

In response to questions from the audience, he affirmed his belief that women should have the right to make their own reproductive health choices, supported protections for the LGBTQ+ community, condemned Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel, said there needed to be a two-state solution to the conflict, demanded humanitarian aid reach the people of Gaza, and said antisemitism and islamophobia had no place in America.

On the subject of education, Trone said he was a supporter of increased funding for education, believed the liberal arts model prepared students for the future workplace, and was endorsed by the Maryland State Education Association. 

— Darrach Dolan