John Delaney is the first Democrat to announce a presidential bid in 2020. His wife, April McClain Delaney, has been his biggest supporter since they met in law school.
Here’s what you need to know about April.
1. John Rearranged His Law Classes So He Could Have the Same Schedule as April
April is from Idaho and is the daughter of a potato farmer. When John met April in law school at Georgetown, he was smitten. According to his bio, he rearranged his entire class schedule just so he could be in all of her first-year law classes. When they got engaged, she wasn’t ready to move to the big city of New York and he didn’t want to head back west where she was from, so they decided to make Washington, D.C. their home. Ever since then, they’ve been lifelong partners in public service.
They also share the same Catholic faith. In 2015, they celebrated the Pope’s visit to Washington, D.C. by pledging to #WalkWithFrancis. The video above is from that pledge.
2. April is a Lawyer with a History in FCC and Regulatory Law
April is a regulatory lawyer, the Washington Director of Common Sense Media, and a past chair of Georgetown Law’s Board of Directors. For 15 years she worked in various communications-centered roles, including serving as Vice President and Director of Orion Network Systems for five years. Prior to that, she was an FCC attorney with Cohn & Marks for three years. Before that, she founded an international satellite-based Internet services company called USAT.
In 2017, April was awarded the Champion Award by Common Sense Media.
In August 2014, she was the featured volunteer for We Will, a campaign at Northwestern.
3. April Volunteers for Children’s and Women’s Rights
Facebook/John K. Delaney
April is an advocate for children’s media literacy and women’s rights. She’s chaired the last three National Prayer Breakfasts’ “Meeting of Women from the 50 States.” .
She’s also overseen the Delaney Family Foundation Fund, and served on boards including the Children’s Hospital Foundation, the Boys & Girls Club of the Washington Metropolitan Area, and Discovery Creek’s Children’s Museum.
John and April make community service a priority, focusing on education and issues that affect children. They are also big proponents of working across bipartisan lines, and she’s hosted more than 50 bipartisan events of her own
4. She’s Advocating for an Independent, Truth-Based Press
As part of her children’s advocacy, April has grown worried about fake news and its impact on children. In May, she kicked off a video series where she advocated for an independent, truth-based press. She believes the media should be a fourth branch of the government — a watchdog of the other three official branches. But this is only facilitated by a non-partisan press, she said:
You see, fake news affects us all, but it is our children who lack the context and the media literacy to tell the difference between fake and real. And they are the ones most at risk.”
5. April and John Supported Hillary Clinton in 2016
Facebook/John K. Delaney
In 2016, John and April supported Hillary Clinton’s campaign. In January, they even hosted a fundraiser for her at their home in Potomac, Maryland.
John and April are very much in love. In late May, John wrote the following about April on Facebook:
Every day she is a model of kindness, intellect, and integrity to our four daughters. She is the absolute heart of our family and I love her more than I could ever possibly describe with words. Happy Birthday to my love.”
