In Connecticut’s ‘toss-up’ 5th District race Jahana Hayes maintains money lead over George Logan

U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5, has widened her fundraising lead over Republican George Logan in what is widely seen as Connecticut’s most competitive congressional race.

The designation of the 5th District as a targeted race for national Republicans has attracted television advertising by a conservative independent-expenditure group, but it has yet to translate into fundraising success for Logan.

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Reports show that Hayes outpaced Logan by a 3-1 margin for the second consecutive financial quarter and ended June with nearly $1.7 million in cash on hand, compared to $204,825 for Logan.

Hayes reported net contributions of $317,036 for the three-month period ending June 30; Logan raised $102,034 over the same period, a slight improvement from the $90,415 he collected in the first three months of the year.

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But Logan, a former state senator who opened his campaign on July 21, 2021, raised more in the third and fourth quarters of 2021 than in the first two of 2022: $262,803 versus $212,411.

Newtown, Ct – 07/23/2021 – George Logan is running in the 5th District Congressional race and is challenging Jahana Hayes.Photograph by Sofie Brandt | sbrandt@courant.com (Sofie Brandt/The Hartford Courant)

“Donors are feeling the inflation across the country right now,” said Paul Amarone, the manager of Logan’s campaign. “I don’t think it’s just a 5th District issue.”

A prediction model used by the political web site, FiveThirtyEight, rates the race as a toss-up. Republicans last won the seat in 2004, and the Connecticut congressional delegation has been all Democratic for nearly 16 years.

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“I think the GOP and national pollsters underestimate the uniqueness of voters in this district,” said Barbara Ellis, the manager of Hayes’ campaign. “Running a generic national campaign in the hopes that there will be a national red wave will not work here.”

Hayes won with 56% of the vote in 2018 and 55% in 2020, but the district has slightly favored Republicans in gubernatorial races, giving the GOP cause to believe it can be a battleground with the right candidate and adequate funding.

The American Action Network spent an estimated $300,000 in the last two weeks of June on television ads mocking Hayes for saying that the Democrat’s pandemic relief packages saved the economy.

“George is working hard every day to connect with donors here in Connecticut and across the country,” Amarone said. He called the toss-up designation by FiveThirtyEight “a positive sign for the race.”

Ellis said Hayes’ financial support in the district is “proof that the voters here approve of her work and she still has overwhelming support in district.”

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Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., chair of the House Subcommittee on Nutrition, joins Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the House Appropriations Committee chair, left, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at a news conference as House Democrats unveil a $28 million emergency spending bill to address the shortage of infant formula in the United States, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, May 17, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

The district runs along Connecticut’s western border with New York from Danbury in the south to the Litchfield Hills in the state’s northwest corner, encompassing struggling small cities like Meriden and New Britain and upscale Farmington Valley suburbs.

Mark Pazniokas is a reporter for The Connecticut Mirror (https://ctmirror.org/ ). Copyright 2022 © The Connecticut Mirror.