Trone Jumps In With Both Feet

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And maybe the feet of a few more people on top of that. The Hill reports that with 89 days to go, Trone isn’t wasting any time at all.

With only a few days before the door closes on candidate filing in Maryland, one surprise candidate is on his way through – and he brought a big checkbook with him.

David J. Trone, a 60-year-old businessman who made a fortune from his retail chain, Total Wine & More, announced his candidacy late Wednesday in the Democratic primary for Maryland’s open 8th District – potentially shaking it up with the millions he said he would be willing to spend ahead of the April primary.

“I’m going to spend absolutely what it takes,” he told Roll Call on Thursday. “We’re starting as a big underdog. I love hard work and new ideas. I love change and I don’t think a lot of folks in D.C. embrace change.”

On Thursday afternoon, his campaign spent $900,000 for a 10 day advertising campaign on broadcast, cable and radio in the expensive Washington, D.C.-area market, two Democrats who track ad spending told Roll Call.

He’s already got a website up, and some of the ads are running there too. Here’s some of them:

First, the origin story. It’s called “Bet the Farm.”

There’s nine more videos on a range of subjects, including jobs, social security, social impact bonds, abortion, LGBT issues, prison reform, income inequality, and higher education. There’s also a three and a half minute segment on the “Total Wine story,” about how his business developed. The Trone for Congress YouTube page is here; I’m too lazy to embed nine videos right now. But you can go watch them.

10 videos, a poll, and now a $900,000 ad buy. For 10 days. Better hide the children in the storm cellar, Martha. I think the big one’s ‘a comin’. David Trone ain’t playin’ around.

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