Jahana Hayes Chion Wolf/WNPR
U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, a former national Teacher of the Year, spoke about the importance of education.
U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes

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, D-5th 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, D-3rd District, Jim Himes, D-4th District and Joe Courtney, D-2nd 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 re-election 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 cash-on-hand 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, D-Minn., 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 fund at the end of the second 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 re-election efforts of  about a dozen House Democratic freshmen, including Hayes.

Rep. John Larson, D-1st 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.

Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.

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1 Comment

  1. I guess Dems are OK with elected officials who lie. Saying one thing to get elected (Talking about her infamous Pelosi flip-flop) and then within hours after getting elected to renege on that promise and act in accordance with the Party’s wishes, and forgetting about her promises to those who got her elected. I guess her response would be “the party got me elected not the people” and that would be fairly truthful as this article points out. You need money (and lots of it) to get elected, the party supplies the money, so loyaltiy is owed to the party. But Ilhan Omar, very revealing that she would accept money from Omar. And,of course, Pelosi had to give her money.

    And before anyone comments, Yes! I know the Republicans are no better.

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