Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), one of the more technologically savvy lawmakers who oversees the Pentagon, could be voted out of office Tuesday, even as the defense industry tries to keep him in place.
Bartlett, an 86-year-old House Armed Services Committee (HASC) member, has been struggling to win a 11th term in the House since Maryland’s redistricting process transformed his once-Republican-heavy constituency in the 6th District into one dominated by Democrats. His Democratic challenger, businessman John Delaney, has surpassed Bartlett in fundraising, and prominent polling organizations are predicting the newcomer will unset the House veteran.
But if Bartlett is going down it is not without a fight. His campaign sent a solicitation e-mail to supporters last Wednesday touting his value to the HASC, because of his science and technology aptitude. He is physiologist and holds more than a dozen patents.
Bartlett warns supporters in the e-mail of threats facing the United States, saying: “I have the distinct honor of serving in the Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives, and I am the chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee. The responsibility of protecting our military is great, but I am uniquely qualified for this role as one of the most technically knowledgeable members of Congress.”
Pentagon contractors are well-aware of the possible loss of Bartlett.
Defense industry employees, as a group, have been Bartlett’s biggest donor, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics’ (CRP) analysis of Federal Election Commission (FEC) campaign-finance reports.
Pentagon contractors, including those working in aerospace and electronics, gave Bartlett $136,000 as of an Oct. 17 deadline, CRP data shows. Within those donations he received the most money from Northrop Grumman [NOC] employees, who gave him $11,000 as of mid-October.
Delaney, by contrast, did not receive substantial donations from any variety of defense companies’ employees, with most of his funds coming from securities and investment companies, according to CRP.
Overall, Bartlett had raised $1.1 million in donations and Delaney had garnered $1.9 million as of Oct. 17, though the Democrat also used $1.9 million in self-financing. Both candidates drained most of their campaign coffers as of mid-October in the bitterly-fought race, with Bartlett having just $110,000 on hand and Delaney having $173,000 left.
The defense industry also has been helping Bartlett in the final days of his reelection scramble. The Republican incumbent garnered at least another $15,000 in donations from Oct. 17 through the end of October, according to supplemental reports the campaigns must file with the FEC showing big donations in the final days of the race. Those include $1,000 on Oct. 26 from Lockheed Martin Corporation Employees’ Political Action Committee (PAC) and $2,000 on Oct. 22 from the Solers Inc. PAC, which is affiliated with the defense-electronics industry, according to the FEC.
Both campaigns portrayed the defense industry and the military as important to the 6th district.
“A strong military and strong national defense is important to the entire country, including the Sixth District,” Delaney campaign manager Justin Schall told Defense Daily. “Fort Detrick and the advanced sciences corridor along I-270 are important to the District and are vital to the country.”
Still, it is Bartlett that is receiving the industry’s largess.
Bartlett campaign manager Ted Dacey told Defense Daily the congressman “has been an aggressive advocate for the various military installations” in the district, and also has shown serving on the HASC that “no one fights harder to protect the men and women serving our country.”
Asked if Bartlett is serving as an appropriate watchdog over industry on the HASC if defense contractors want him to stay, Dacey replied that Bartlett’s supporters “know he is beholden to no one.”
Defense analyst and consultant Loren Thompson maintains the defense industry donates to Bartlett because he holds one of the most-senior positions on the HASC, on which he is also the vice chairman.
“Industry always gravitates toward supporting powerful politicians in a position to benefit its business, whether that business is healthcare or financial services or military contracting,” said Thompson, chief operating officer at the Lexington Institute in Virginia. “Roscoe Bartlett is no tool of the defense industry, but he shares many of the industry’s interests and concerns.”
On the HASC’s Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittee Bartlett oversees Army and Air Force acquisition programs, all Navy and Marine Corps aviation programs, ammunition programs, the National Guard, and Army and Air Force National Guard and Reserve.
Bartlett is known to ask long, analytical questions about both the science and logic underlying weapons programs. He has been outspoken on topics including defense-energy security, the threat of an electromagnetic-pulse attack, Navy shipbuilding, and armoring vehicles.
Bartlett had hoped to become HASC chairman in 2009, when Republicans took control of the House, because he was the panel’s most-senior Republican. Yet a House Republican steering committee gave the chairmanship to Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.), who observers characterized as more polished than Bartlett (Defense Daily, June 10, 2009).
Delaney has started multiple businesses and most recently launched BancAllliance, a cooperative of community banks.
Asked about Bartlett’s work on the HASC, Schall said the “main priority right now should be on job creation and unemployment,” noting unemployment grew in Western Maryland with Bartlett in office. Delaney has focused on veterans’ issues, issuing a policy paper on the topic that also discusses active-duty issues and military-family support, he added.
Political pundits and pollsters alike say the election does not look good for Bartlett. The Cook Political Report dubs the race for Maryland’s 6th district as “likely Democratic.” The Rothenberg Political Report labels it “Democrat Favored.”
Politicians from beyond Maryland are weighing in on the race. Former Democratic President Bill Clinton endorsed Delaney. And former congressman Gene Taylor, a Democrat from Mississippi, traveled to Frederick, Md., two weeks ago to announce his support for the Republican incumbent. Before Republicans took control of the House, Bartlett was the ranking member on the HASC’s Seapower and Expeditionary Forces subcommittee and Taylor was its chairman.