5th District race too close to call
WATERBURY — With nearly one-quarter million votes cast in Connecticut’s most politically balanced congressional district, twoterm Democratic incumbent Jahana Hayes appears to have an edge over Republican challenger George Logan, but no winner has been declared.
As some absentee ballots continue to be reported, Hayes has 398 votes over Logan, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of the State’s office as of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Logan’s supporters and Connecticut Democrats each said publicly they were confident the final count would confirm a win for their side in Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District. Hayes’ campaign said it would wait until a winner was declared to make a statement.Logan would be the GOP’s first congressman representing Connecticut in 14 years. Democrats need Hayes’ victory in the fight for control of the House of Representatives.
Connecticut’s Secretary of the State, which planned to have all votes from the 5th District counted by Thursday morning at the latest, said that all 157 precincts had turned in their ballots by midday Wednesday. Hayes was leading Logan 124,708 to 124,310. An automatic recount will be triggered if the final margin of victory is less than onehalf of 1 percent.
Most of the votes being counted by the state were hand ballots, a spokesman said. There was no evidence of irregularities, the spokesman said.
Logan’s campaign tweeted he was hopeful about becoming the first Republican in 14 years to represent the 5th District, which stretches from Danbury to the Farmington Valley and Meriden and up to the Massachusetts border.
“We’re ... confident that after all the votes are counted we believe George Logan will be the next congressman from Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District,” said Liz Kurantowicz, Logan’s senior advisor.
Connecticut Democrats said their faith was in Hayes.
“Once every single vote is counted and certified by election officials, we are confident Jahana Hayes will win re-election. At the moment, some towns are under-reported in official records,” a tweet from CTDemocrats said, adding that “getting it right” was better than “getting it fast.”
Hayes was silent on Wednesday, in contrast to her mood late Tuesday during a celebratory gathering with supporters, where she did everything but declare victory.
“The rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated,” a jubilant Hayes told a crowd at Courtyard Marriott in downtown Waterbury shortly after midnight. “The numbers are still coming in from Cheshire, Danbury and Waterbury ... so I am going to be respectful and not assume anything.”
Hayes, a former National Teacher of the Year, and a member of the House Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Education and Labor, focused on schools and veterans during the campaign. As chairwoman of the Agricultural Committee subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight and Department Operations, Hayes wrote legislation signed into law by President Biden to ensure better access to baby formula.
Logan, a former state senator and an executive at the Aquarion water company, promised during the campaign to be an independent voice for the district, saying his priority would be strengthening the economy and battling inflation.
“It’s not going to be a landslide,” Logan told his supporters shortly before leaving Verdi restaurant at Western Hills Golf Course in Waterbury on Tuesday. “It’s going to be by the slimmest of margins.”
Logan, who called himself a social moderate and fiscal conservative, said he could forge an independent path representing the 41town 5th Congressional District. He represents Republicans’ only chance to break into Connecticut’s all-Democratic federal delegation. He was endorsed by the Independent Party.
Hayes, a Waterbury native and the wife of a Waterbury police officer, said she supports funding for law enforcement, and highlighted her advocacy for gun safety, immigration reform, and social justice. Hayes was cross-endorsed by the Working Families Party.
“I will wait patiently for however long it takes to count every single vote,” Hayes told supporters, some of whom remained in the ballroom dancing after Hayes left. “I could not have done this without each and every one of you.”