Meet the Winner
Last night voters in Connecticut’s Fifth Congressional District elected Jahana Hayes, 2016 Teacher of the Year, as the Democratic nominee for Congress. Hayes won 37 of the 41 towns in the district, with 62% of the vote against former Simsbury Selectwoman (aka: mayor) Mary Glassman. Astonishingly, Hayes won 69% of the Democratic vote in rural Litchfield County, which only two years ago favored Trump by 13.5%. In this year’s primary, the county broke even between Democrats and Republicans.
District Description
This is the district being vacated by Elizabeth Esty and previously represented by Senator Chris Murphy, who encouraged Hayes to run. The district runs from the New York border along part of the border with Massachusetts, ending just west of Hartford. The district includes the following:
Litchfield County – A large rural county, with a mixture of both middle class and wealthy residents (half of which are part-time residents).
Danbury – A city with a large immigrant population, predominantly Ecuadorian and Brazilian. As early as 2005, the city has been the epicenter of an anti-immigrate debate, led largely by mayor Mark Boughton, who ran for and loss the Republican nomination for Governor.
New Britain – A city with large Polish and Puerto Rican populations. New Britain has been in the news lately for another reason: whether to rename Paul Manafort Drive. Before you get confused, the street was named after Paul Manafort, Sr., the former mayor of New Britain, not Paul Manafort, Jr., who is on trial in Virginia (yes, he is the son of the former mayor and was born in New Britain).
Waterbury – The largest city in the district, with part being in the 3rd CD. It is the state’s 5th largest city and has been losing residents since 2010. The city is 1/3 Hispanic, mostly Puerto Rican and Dominican. It also is 20% African-American, with a significant Caribbean population.
Newtown – Scene of the 4th worst mass shooting in US history and the largest involving children.
Meriden – A city between New Haven and Hartford. It has a large Puerto Rican population and a growing immigrant community, largely from Mexico. Hayes Republican opponent, Manny Santos, is the former mayor.
The Competition
CT 05 (Esty - Open) – Danbury, New Britain
Raised: Hayes (D) - $296,485 | Santos (R) - $25,860
2nd Qt.: Hayes (D) - $295,473 | Santos (R) - $4,565
C on H: Hayes (D) - $254,143 | Santos (R) - $1,579
Registration – 44% NPA, 31% D, 25% R
Presidential – Clinton (4.1%), Obama (8.2%), Obama (14%)
Primary Results – The combined Democratic vote was 55%. Republicans received 45%.
The Ballot – Another Republican is running as an Independent, to the right of Santos.
Rating: Likely Democrat → Safe Democrat
A First for Connecticut
Not quite. The first African-American elected to the House of Representative from New England was Republican Gary Franks, who held this same seat from 1991-1997. At the time he took office, Franks was the first African-American elected as a Republican to the House of Representative in 56 years. Since then, five other African-Americans have been elected to the House as Republicans, including two that are currently serving (Hurd and Love). The only other African-American to be elected in New England was former Massachusetts Sen. Edward Brooke, who was also a Republican, serving from 1967-1979. Former Massachusetts Sen. Mo Cowan also served in 2013, yet was appointed, never elected. Therefore, Jahana Hayes will be the first African-American Democrat elected from New England and the first African-American Congresswoman from New England.
Let the Introduction Begin (in her own words)
If you want to keep the Blue Wave going then donate to the Jahana Hayes campaign here: secure.actblue.com/...