U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes

U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, who impressed 2018 voters with her story of overcoming high school motherhood to win the national Teacher of the Year award, says the way to a brighter future for greater Danbury and the 5th District is to bring all its voices to congress.

Hayes, a rising star in the Democratic Party, says her vision to gather the diverse voices from the cities and towns in northwest and central Connecticut stems from her conviction that “government should be about making everyone’s lives

better.”

“I’m somebody who is going to consider all perspectives, listen to what people have to say, and consider that as part of the conversation,” Hayes said during an early October debate. “When we are in caucus, the conversations that (constituents) are having in their living room, the questions they’re asking, the concerns that they have, will be brought into the room by me.”

Hayes, a freshman congresswoman who made the cover of Rolling Stone as one of the women of color who helped Democrats take control of the House in the midterm elections, is favored by leading forecasters to defeat GOP challenger

David X. Sullivan, who has been campaigning for 15 months.

“I’m not fighting against something but fighting for something,” Hayes said during an Oct. 4 debate. “I’m not asking you to choose a side…(or) trying to scare people by saying ‘your suburbs are going to be invaded’…(because) I bring people together and build things up.”

Sullivan, a retired assistant U.S. attorney from New Fairfield, raised more than twice the money as the last two GOP challengers for the 5th District combined by mid-October. Even so, Sullivan was trailing Hayes by $1 million in fundraising.

Hayes is also being challenged by Bruce Walczak, a relocation consultant from Newtown, who launched a last-minute, unfunded

campaign on the Independent Party line.

As the Nov. 3 election draws near, Hayes has been debating, meeting with constituents on videoconferencing platforms, and laying out her inclusive vision for what is considered the most competitive congressional district in Connecticut. The latest numbers show 100,000 registered voters are Republicans, 140,000 registered voters are Democrats, and an additional 180,000 registered voters are not affiliated with any party.

Hayes, who sits on the House committees on Education and Labor, and Agriculture, says the coronavirus crisis calls for her style of collaborative leadership.

“I see you, I hear you, and I take your issues to congress where I fight for all people,” Hayes says in a

campaign ad. “When the pandemic hit, I introduced legislation securing funding for Connecticut hospitals, health care workers, small businesses, and farmers (and) I fought for students and teachers.”

Major issues

The coronavirus crisis has not only devastated families in the 5th District and stifled jobs and schools, but struck Hayes personally when she tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 20, and had to quarantine for 14 days.

Hayes, who posted journal entries documenting her bout with the coronavirus, said the most important priority was ensuring the health of Americans.

“We need a national plan to get people healthy, a testing and contract tracing strategy, and the delivery of

a vaccine that people not only have access to but that is affordable,” Hayes said.

Hayes’ desire to show solidarity with constituents who are suffering was on display last week when the other major story that has dominated national headlines affected her personally. During a routine videoconferencing forum with constituents in Newtown was hijacked by racist Zoom bombers, telling Hayes to “shut up n-word,” in what Hayes later described as “Six minutes of vile disgusting…deplorable, hate.”

The attack is part of a larger reckoning America is undergoing with civil unrest and police reform legislation resulting from the public slaying of a Black man in police custody in Minneapolis.

Hayes, the first Black congresswoman to represent Connecticut, wrote in a personal essay that ‘I am not okay’ with the prevalence of hate and said, “The only way we can cut the cancer of racism out of our communities is by calling it out when we see it and raising our collective voices to get rid of it.”

Hayes, a mother of four who is married to a Waterbury police detective, cosponsored with 130 other lawmakers, the Justice in Policing Act, which calls for new training standards, more scrutiny when police use force, and less choke holds, among other measures.

“I will fight for your families the same way I fight for my family,” Hayes said.