The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Hayes outpaces Connecticut’s House Democrats in fundraising
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes raised more campaign cash than any other member of Connecticut’s congressional delegation in the second quarter of this year, thanks in part to the help of House leaders and the Democratic Party.
According to the latest filings with the Federal Elections Commission, Hayes, D5th District, raised $333,312 from April 1 to June 30, receiving donations to her campaign fund from at least 20 fellow House Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. She ended the quarter with more than $872,000 in her war chest.
Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D3rd District, Jim Himes, D4th District and Joe Courtney, D2nd District contributed to Hayes’ campaign from either their personal campaign accounts or their leadership political action committees. DeLauro contributed $2,000 and Courtney and Himes each contributed $1,000.
And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee contributed $1,000 to Hayes’ campaign in the second quarter, and a total of $10,500 to her first reelection effort.
Freshmen lawmakers like Hayes are usually most vulnerable, a likely reason for the fundraising help she is receiving from fellow Democrats.
Hayes has already drawn two GOP challengers, Ruben Rodriguez of Waterbury who reported raising $1,084 and had $225.43 cashonhand at the end of the reporting period, and David Sullivan of New Fairfield. The FEC had no fundraising report available for Sullivan.
Hayes also received help from fellow freshmen, including a $2,000 donation from the campaign of Rep. Ilhan Omar, DMinn., one of four progressive Democratic members of Congress known as “the Squad” whom President Donald Trump has disparaged.
Trump tweeted Sunday that, instead of criticizing his government, the four congresswomen should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” That resulted in the approval of a House resolution Tuesday evening condemning the president for his “racist comments” because the congresswomen are members of racial and ethnic minority groups.
According to the latest FEC filings, Himes raised $143, 208 in the second quarter. Like Connecticut’s other incumbent lawmakers, most of that money – in this case $107,000 – came from political action committees, or PACs, representing special interests.
Himes reported having more than $2.2 million cash on hand in his campaign fundattheendofthesecond quarter.
Courtney reported raising $130, 885, about $95,000 from PACs. His campaign said it had more than $856,000 in cash on hand. The FEC had no fundraising report available for Courtney’s Republican challenger, Tommy Gilmer of Madison.
DeLauro’s campaign reported raising $176,555 and ended the period with about $137,000 cash on hand. Its filing with the FEC showed DeLauro’s campaign had contributed to the reelection efforts of about a dozen House Democratic freshmen, including Hayes.
Rep. John Larson, D1st District, raised about $182,000 and had $431,551 cash on hand on June 30. PACs, many representing insurance and financial interests, donated most of the money Larson’s campaign raised in the quarter, about $164,000.