Speaker to campaign with Logan in Hartford this weekend
A race in the 5th Congressional District that covers most of northwestern Connecticut into a swath of central Connecticut is again drawing the attention of national Republicans intent on securing control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
On Saturday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson will appear at a campaign fundraiser in Hartford for Republican George Logan, a former state senator making a second bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Wolcott, in the state’s fiercely competitive 5th Congressional District. Hartford is not part of the 5th District, which does include Avon, Cheshire, Danbury, Farmington, Meriden, New Britain, Southington, Torrington, Waterbury and Winsted.
For years, Republicans have viewed the district as one of their best opportunities to flip a seat in New England, where they have endured a string of shutouts in federal elections.
Democrats, meanwhile, have seized on the appearance by the conservative, evangelical Johnson from Louisiana to tie his agenda to Logan, a self-described moderate who has pledged to uphold Connecticut’s laws permitting abortions.
Logan did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
During his unsuccessful campaign against Hayes in 2022, Logan appeared with former House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. — prompting similar attacks from Democrats.
While Logan lost that election by just over 2,000 votes, Republicans took control of the House and installed McCarthy as speaker, only to dump him less than a year later during a right-wing revolt that saw Johnson emerge as a consensus leader.
In a statement released by her campaign on Tuesday, Hayes called the decision to host the Republican speaker an “odd and unfortunate choice,” while directly rebuking Johnson as an “election denier,” for his vote against the certification of the 2020 election.
“People care about our international allies, Johnson is playing politics with a security supplemental bill, even on the issue of the crisis at the border, Johnson refuses to put a bill on the floor for a vote,” Hayes said. “People in the Fifth reject Johnson’s extreme views on abortion and LGBTQ rights. This event further solidifies my opponent’s embrace of Trump and their most extreme policies.”
In his own post on the social media site X last week, Logan acknowledged that Donald Trump is all but ensured to be his party’s nominee for president, without explicitly offering his endorsement of the former president.
“I remain laser focused on solving the issues plaguing our country and my communities each and every day, which is why I’m running for Congress,” Logan said. “We must return to economic strength, secure borders and deliver change for the American people.”
Johnson’s visit has rankled his only opponent in the Republican primary for the 5th District, Michelle Botelho, of Danbury.
“Logan has the establishment behind him,” Botelho said Tuesday. “They have a lot of money invested in him, and so everybody is backing him. I am the grassroots, so I have a lot of conservative voters and conservative constituents backing me.”
According to federal campaign disclosures, Logan raised $426,326 for his election bid last year, trailing Hayes’ $1.1 million by a significant margin. However, the Republican’s fundraising efforts eclipsed Hayes during the final quarter of the year, $397,618 to $279,195.
Botelho, meanwhile, has raised $8,853 since she filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission in December.