Rep. David Trone (D-6th) talks about his work in Congress, during a Dec. 11 interview in the office of Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.). After his loss in the May primary to Sen.-Elect Angela Alsobrooks (D), Trone’s office is under renovation for a new member of Congress. Photo by William J. Ford.
Rep. David Trone (D-6th) is ready to turn the page. Again.
After a successful career in business, another six years in Congress and more than $60 million of his fortune invested in a failed bid this year for U.S. Senate, Trone said he does not intend to return to the helm of Total Wine & More and he doesn’t have “any immediate interest” in the political arena. He wants to spend more time now working with charities.
“I have no regrets whatsoever,” said in a recent interview in the office of Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), after being moved out of his office on Nov. 26 to make way for the new class of House members elected Nov. 5.
“The time you’ll never get back. That’s what matters the most,” Trone said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity to step forward and help change America.”
The energetic 69-year-old philanthropist isn’t going to return to head the national retail chain of Total Wine & More, which he says added another 15 stores last year. Trone relinquished daily control of the business after his election in 2018 to represent Maryland’s 6th District, which sprawls across Western Maryland and is considered the most competitive House seat in the state.
“I founded a company in 1984 when I was at the Wharton School of Business [at the University of Pennsylvania]. No interest. I’ve done that,” he said. “Now, I have a chance to give back to help folks.”
That help will come from Trone’s foundation, named for him and his wife, June.
Trone said the foundation will help nonprofits and other organizations with a focus in five areas: addiction, mental illness, criminal justice, medical research and immigration.
Those same topics are what Trone homed in on as a congressman and what led him to become one of the most bipartisan legislators during his time on Capitol Hill.
An analysis released in May by the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, Trone ranked 27th out of the 436 House members last year from the 118th Congress. In the center’s report released on the first year of the 117th Congress, Trone ranked 23rd.
In both reports, Trone received the highest percentage among Maryland’s House delegation.
In terms of legislation, Trone sponsored or co-led on 30 bills signed into law. Those include:
Trone has some advice for the four incoming Democrats in Maryland’s delegation – Sen.-elect Angela Alsobrooks and Reps.-elect Sarah K. Elfreth, Johnny Olszewski Jr. and April McClain Delaney, who is replacing Trone.
“I stress to them that they need to not spend their time talking to each other. That’s like talking to your fans,” Trone said.
“Get out of the Democratic side and walk over to the other side. Sit down next to someone you don’t know, introduce yourself, shake their hand, and focus on the ones, especially [with those] on the committee where your bills are going to go through,” he said.
Trone also said leadership with the national and state Democratic parties need to talk with voters more, especially after the GOP won control of the White House and the Senate and retained control — barely — of the House.
“We’ve got to figure out how to get better messaging,” he said. “We’ve got to talk more about the issues that really matter to people. Those are pocketbook issues, their job. Talk about inflation, talk about better jobs. Talk about how we’re going to bring more manufacturing in this country.”
Trone said he’ll miss working with people like DeLauro and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies (D-New York), who Trone predicted will become a future Speaker of the House and “ought to be president.”
Trone called President Joe Biden “one of the greatest presidents in history,” comparing him to President Lyndon Baines Johnson because of the “monumental” legislation passed in the 117th Congress, such as the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.
He hasn’t entirely walked away from politics: Trone has endorsed Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy in a special election for county executive and said he plans to contribute financially to her campaign. Braveboy endorsed Trone in the Democratic primary for Senate, which he lost in May to Alsobrooks, who was then the county executive.
But Trone will relax with family during the holidays and await the birth of his third grandchild, a girl, expected to be born in March.
Then Trone will get right back to work in January.
“We have a lot of relationships. We have a lot of energy. We have a lot of executive expertise on how to run a business, how to run a group. We like to do that,” he said on his philanthropic work. “I’m not looking for a paycheck. I’m looking for accomplishments.”
by William J. Ford, Maryland Matters
December 23, 2024
by William J. Ford, Maryland Matters
December 23, 2024
Rep. David Trone (D-6th) is ready to turn the page. Again.
After a successful career in business, another six years in Congress and more than $60 million of his fortune invested in a failed bid this year for U.S. Senate, Trone said he does not intend to return to the helm of Total Wine & More and he doesn’t have “any immediate interest” in the political arena. He wants to spend more time now working with charities.
“I have no regrets whatsoever,” said in a recent interview in the office of Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), after being moved out of his office on Nov. 26 to make way for the new class of House members elected Nov. 5.
“The time you’ll never get back. That’s what matters the most,” Trone said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity to step forward and help change America.”
The energetic 69-year-old philanthropist isn’t going to return to head the national retail chain of Total Wine & More, which he says added another 15 stores last year. Trone relinquished daily control of the business after his election in 2018 to represent Maryland’s 6th District, which sprawls across Western Maryland and is considered the most competitive House seat in the state.
“I founded a company in 1984 when I was at the Wharton School of Business [at the University of Pennsylvania]. No interest. I’ve done that,” he said. “Now, I have a chance to give back to help folks.”
That help will come from Trone’s foundation, named for him and his wife, June.
Trone said the foundation will help nonprofits and other organizations with a focus in five areas: addiction, mental illness, criminal justice, medical research and immigration.
Those same topics are what Trone homed in on as a congressman and what led him to become one of the most bipartisan legislators during his time on Capitol Hill.
An analysis released in May by the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, Trone ranked 27th out of the 436 House members last year from the 118th Congress. In the center’s report released on the first year of the 117th Congress, Trone ranked 23rd.
In both reports, Trone received the highest percentage among Maryland’s House delegation.
In terms of legislation, Trone sponsored or co-led on 30 bills signed into law. Those include:
Trone has some advice for the four incoming Democrats in Maryland’s delegation – Sen.-elect Angela Alsobrooks and Reps.-elect Sarah K. Elfreth, Johnny Olszewski Jr. and April McClain Delaney, who is replacing Trone.
“I stress to them that they need to not spend their time talking to each other. That’s like talking to your fans,” Trone said.
“Get out of the Democratic side and walk over to the other side. Sit down next to someone you don’t know, introduce yourself, shake their hand, and focus on the ones, especially [with those] on the committee where your bills are going to go through,” he said.
Trone also said leadership with the national and state Democratic parties need to talk with voters more, especially after the GOP won control of the White House and the Senate and retained control — barely — of the House.
“We’ve got to figure out how to get better messaging,” he said. “We’ve got to talk more about the issues that really matter to people. Those are pocketbook issues, their job. Talk about inflation, talk about better jobs. Talk about how we’re going to bring more manufacturing in this country.”
Trone said he’ll miss working with people like DeLauro and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies (D-New York), who Trone predicted will become a future Speaker of the House and “ought to be president.”
Trone called President Joe Biden “one of the greatest presidents in history,” comparing him to President Lyndon Baines Johnson because of the “monumental” legislation passed in the 117th Congress, such as the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.
He hasn’t entirely walked away from politics: Trone has endorsed Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy in a special election for county executive and said he plans to contribute financially to her campaign. Braveboy endorsed Trone in the Democratic primary for Senate, which he lost in May to Alsobrooks, who was then the county executive.
But Trone will relax with family during the holidays and await the birth of his third grandchild, a girl, expected to be born in March.
Then Trone will get right back to work in January.
“We have a lot of relationships. We have a lot of energy. We have a lot of executive expertise on how to run a business, how to run a group. We like to do that,” he said on his philanthropic work. “I’m not looking for a paycheck. I’m looking for accomplishments.”
Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.
William J. Ford has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 20 years. Most recently, he spent seven years covering Prince George’s County, some Maryland politics and other local news in the D.C. area for the Washington Informer. While at the paper, Ford received reporting awards from the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association and was finalist for beat reporting in 2021 and a 2019 award winner for beat reporting from the D.C. chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Ford previously worked as a correspondent for Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine and for nearly 10 years covering municipalities and other local news for The Morning Call newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
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