State GOP looks to break streak
Republicans haven’t won a congressional race since 2006. They see Logan as their best chance in years.
WATERBURY — After losing every election in the 5th Congressional District since 2004, Connecticut Republicans are suddenly reenergized as former state Sen. George Logan is seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes.
The one-time Republican stronghold has trended Democratic ever since an up-and-coming state senator named Chris Murphy scored a stunning upset victory in 2006 over Republican stalwart Nancy Johnson, a 24-year incumbent who had often won by large margins. Democrats have increasingly solidified their foothold ever since in the sprawling district that stretches from Meriden and
New Britain to the New York state border, and Hayes comfortably won races in 2018 and 2020. Republicans have been shut out in congressional races in Connecticut since 2006, when Johnson’s fellow Republican Rep. Chris Shays won reelection before being defeated two years later.
But Logan is a Black Republican who captured political attention by winning twice in a Democratic district for the state Senate in the Naugatuck Valley before losing by four percentage points in a down year for Connecticut Republicans with President Donald Trump at the top of the ballot. Now, Republicans think Logan has a solid chance to expand his political reach.
“This is probably our best candidate since 2012 with Andrew
Roraback,” said John Morris of Litchfield, the longest-serving member of the Republican State Central Committee who has served under five governors since 1991. Roraback, whose family is well-known in Litchfield County and who is now a Superior Court judge, ran the closest race in the
past 15 years while losing by four percentage points.
Saying that Hayes votes with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time, Republicans are already trying to tie Hayes to the San Francisco Democrat, who is deeply unpopular among Republicans.
“We currently have a congresswoman who seems to spend more time wanting to represent Nancy Pelosi, A.O.C. and the Squad than she does the 5th District,” Morris said. “Nancy Johnson had no problem standing up to her party when she thought that was the right thing to do. I haven’t seen Jahana Hayes stand up to her party at all . ... When she ran, she said she would not vote for Nancy Pelosi for speaker and then folded like a piece of paper when it came time to vote.”
Barbara Ellis, Hayes’ campaign manager, said that Hayes was focusing on her work in Washington and that she would not comment until “Republicans have an endorsed candidate.’’
Despite Republican enthusiasm, Democrats say they have recent history on their side. In addition to picking the Democrat in the congressional race every two years, voters in the district have also chosen the Democrat in all the recent presidential races: John Kerry in 2004, Barack Obama twice, Hillary Clinton over Trump in 2016 and Joe Biden over Trump in 2020.
National Republicans: Hayes vulnerable
While Democrats predict that Hayes will win again for the third straight time, national Republicans have already placed her on a list of 47 vulnerable House Democrats nationally — and the only one in Connecticut.
With that backdrop, Logan is trying simply to
get on the radar screen of targeted races in order to raise money. He said that he is “leaning” toward voting for Rep. Kevin Mccarthy of California, the current House Republican leader, as the next House speaker if he wins and the Republicans gain control in 2022.
“The leadership is certainly welcome to come here to Connecticut,” Logan said of potential campaigners. “I certainly will be reaching out for folks locally and nationally in terms of support because, look, what’s at stake here is flipping the House, and we need everybody working together to do that.”
On national issues, Logan said that the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol should be investigated, but added that Pelosi should not be in charge of overseeing a commission that he says is now too partisan.
“I do support investigating what happened on Jan. 6 and why,” he said. “But I do not think it’s a good idea for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s commission to be the one doing that because there’s no way that it’s going to be impartial. I believe she wants to use it to benefit her party and to maintain power in Congress, and that is a problem.”
Logan added that he is not sure if he would endorse Trump for president in 2024, saying he first wants to know who else is running. Trump has not declared whether he would run again.
Regarding whether Biden won last year’s election fairly, Logan said, “I certainly do believe that President Biden is president of the United States.”
Logan said he is looking forward to solutions in the future, rather than focusing on past actions in Congress or past votes by Hayes.
Moderate Republican, fiscal conservative
A self-described moderate Republican and fiscal conservative, Logan mentioned that he was part of the bipartisan coalition in the state legislature in 2017 that pushed for spending and bonding caps that have led to the state’s record $4.5 billion rainy day fund for fiscal emergencies. The law passed that year provided triggers that forced the legislature to place money into the rainy day fund — rather than spending it — if personal income taxes from Wall Street stock and bond gains exceeded certain levels.
As a fiscal conservative, Logan voted in the Senate in 2019 against creating the state’s paid family and medical leave program that requires payroll deductions to fund the initiative. He also voted against raising the minimum wage and voted against various fiscal measures pushed by Democratic Govs. Dannel P. Malloy and Ned Lamont.
Logan said he is trying to break the one-party rule in Connecticut by Democrats, who control the congressional delegation, both chambers of the state legislature and all statewide elected offices.
“When we’re talking about diversity and inclusion, what about all the people that are more conservative-leaning here in Connecticut?” Logan said. “They need someone like me and the folks that are supportive of this campaign representing them . ... I feel that we are on the cusp of a change, where we’re going to get more conservative-leaning voices. I think we’ve just gone too far left in terms of the priorities that we have here in Connecticut and Washington.”
As money will be an issue since Logan starts with Hayes having already raised $1.2 million for her campaign, former Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski said he would work hard to raise money for Logan by opening up the network that helped him in his 2018 race against Lamont. Stefanowski held fundraisers in New York and at upscale spots like
the Belle Haven Club in Greenwich that featured a speech by the chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
“I’m going to do everything I can to help him raise money,” Stefanowski said. “We had a lot of national donors that I think we can get interested in this.’’
Describing Logan as “a terrific candidate,” Stefanowski said, “If I was Jahana Hayes, I would be worried right now.”
Residency issue
Logan’s residency came up at his campaign kickoff Wednesday, and it is expected to become an issue throughout the campaign. He has lived for the past 20 years in Ansonia, which is in the 3rd Congressional District, and he said he intends to move to the 5th District after the official district lines are drawn that are based on the U.S. Census that is conducted every 10 years.
State Democratic Chairwoman Nancy Dinardo raised the residency issue while saying that Hayes is “a rising star” in the U.S. House.
“We’re confident that the voters of the 5th District, where she lives with her family and taught in the Waterbury schools,” Dinardo said, “will see the difference between someone who serves them well in Washington and a political opportunist who doesn’t even live in the district.”
Longtime Waterbury Republican Jeff Santopietro, a strong Trump supporter, said he will campaign with Logan in the Brass City and throughout the district.
“I haven’t been this excited since John Rowland,” said Santopietro. “People are getting tired of what they see coming out of Washington. It’s dividing the country, and people are tired of it.”