It's almost time to vote!
Election Day is less than two weeks away and one of the tightest races is in the Fifth Congressional District. That's where Democrat Jahana Hayes is facing off against Republican challenger George Logan.
It's proving to be surprisingly close considering Hayes has quite a fundraising advantage.
Political Science Professor Jerold Duquette from Central Connecticut State University is talking about the race and how it could play out Nov. 8.
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Mike Hydeck: So the Fifth Congressional District, as we know, hasn't been in Republican hands since the early 2000s when Nancy Johnson was in the seat. What's different now? Why do you think it's this close?
Jerold Duquette: It's a really great question. So others have noted that this race has followed national trends. And we've seen a fall off of salience to the abortion issue since the summer and an increase in the salience of the economy, obviously, related to the persistent inflation. And so when we look at the poll, the recent Emerson College Poll, particularly, it's reflecting those sort of national trends, which obviously has caused the race to go from leaning Democratic to toss up. So as far as the pollsters are concerned, it's a toss up.
Mike Hydeck: So the fifth district is quite diverse. In the heart of it you have Waterbury, where unemployment and crime are concerns. Then you go to the west part of the district. We have some of the wealthiest people in America living in Litchfield County, where taxes and the top 1% are carefully watching that. How do these candidates possibly play to both constituencies?
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Jerold Duquette: That's a really good question. Those constituents aren't necessarily as far apart as you think. The district did, in fact, vote in 2018 for the Republican gubernatorial candidate, which tells folks that there is still some very significant conservative energy in the district. So there's no question that Jahana Hayes, began this race as the one district in Connecticut that was likely to be competitive in any way. However, this is Connecticut. And the fact of the matter is that the national narrative will always sort of redound to her benefit in the sense that folks in the district who might be conservative are very unlikely to want to contribute to sort of a national Republican Party that is associated with former president Trump or future President Trump. Even the Republican candidate for governor this time around has done his very best to distance himself from that image of the party. So for Jahana Hayes, that national narrative of the possibility of strengthening that faction of the Republican Party will probably help her draw some of those folks who are anxious about the economy away from her Republican opponent.
