U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5th District, and her Republican challenger George Logan clashed Wednesday, engaging in a number of testy exchanges during a debate that challenged each other’s records as legislators and offered contrasting views on the current state of the district and the nation.
The debate — hosted by WFSB-TV, CT Insider and WATR at Naugatuck Valley Community Technical College in Waterbury — was the first and only opportunity for voters to see both candidates together in the high-stakes rematch for Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District. Hayes narrowly defeated Logan in the 2022 election, and the race has the potential to once again play a role in deciding which party controls Congress.
The candidates painted very different pictures of the economy and the 5th District, which spans much of the northwest part of the state and includes some of the state’s biggest cities and a number of rural areas. But they both agreed that the cost of living continues to be one of the biggest challenges for voters, though they split on how to address those economic issues and what has contributed to rising costs.
On the economy, the moderators noted that families are still struggling despite low unemployment and wages outpacing the rate of inflation. Logan blamed Hayes for supporting “bloated government programs” that drive up spending. Hayes said she wants to tackle inflation by increasing affordable housing and the minimum wage and credited investments made by Congress in response to the pandemic.
Yet both candidates used similar lines of attack that started early in their opening statements and were underscored during most of the questions throughout the hour-long debate. They challenged the other’s ability to work in a bipartisan manner and cast each other as deeply entrenched within their own political parties.
Logan broadly said he wants to go to Washington, D.C. to work across the aisle and be a new voice. Connecticut has not had a Republican member of Congress since 2009. “She’s had six years to make the difference and she has not,” Logan said, citing issues like the border, energy and rising costs.
While she is running for a fourth term as the incumbent, Hayes immediately sought to focus on Logan’s own voting record when he served in the Connecticut state Senate from 2017 to 2021. “He says he’s bipartisan but can’t point to any specific action,” Hayes said in her opening statement.
“I think I’ve done more for the state of Connecticut than you have as a congresswoman,” Logan said, pointing to the passage of a bipartisan budget in the 2017 Connecticut General Assembly that included guardrails to cap spending.
“The first job of the legislature is to make the laws and pass budgets. So the fact that you voted on a budget is not specific to your successes as a state legislator. You remind me of the kid who is part of a group project and doesn’t do anything but wants credit for the final grade,” Hayes said.
The theme of bipartisanship – or lack thereof – was repeatedly raised and the candidates drew deep contrasts on a number of issues.
Moderators asked the candidates whether they would have supported a bipartisan border bill championed by U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., that was ultimately blocked in the U.S. Senate and was opposed by former President Donald Trump in addition to more comprehensive legislation related to immigration.
Logan said he would “absolutely” support a comprehensive immigration bill, but was highly critical of the border deal brokered by Murphy, U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., and U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.
Logan said taxpayer dollars would be used to provide legal counsel for illegal immigrants. The bill would have provided legal counsel for unaccompanied minors under the age of 13 during removal proceedings.
Hayes, meanwhile, reiterated her support for the border bill and would have voted for it if it came before the House, noting that congressional Republicans had been pushing for a legislative solution on the issue.
The two candidates also disagreed on what is at stake during this year’s election. Logan said “the direction of our nation is at stake,” claiming that leadership in Washington is “really headed towards socialism.” Hayes countered that her opponent is supporting “the person who incited the Jan. 6” riots at the U.S. Capitol when Congress was certifying the 2020 presidential election results. Logan responded that he condemns “all forms of political violence.”
And as it did in the 2022 election, abortion rights came up again as a major issue, specifically on federal legislation that would codify Roe v. Wade in federal law. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the landmark ruling two years ago and sent the issue of whether to allow women to have abortions back to the states.
Since the 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, 21 states have banned or restricted abortion procedures. Connecticut is not among those states.
Hayes supports legislation that would affirm a legal right to abortion up to fetal viability and questioned “which version of George Logan would we get on this issue” of a woman’s right to choose.
“My opponent continues to use the abortion issue for political gain and that is shameful,” Logan said. “I support at a federal level a women’s right to choose as long as it doesn’t undermine Connecticut’s abortion law and it’s constitutional.”
In a debate two years ago when he first ran against Hayes, Logan said he would not support federal legislation enshrining Roe into law, citing concerns about the constitutionality of that act.
“I would not vote in favor of codifying Roe v. Wade at the federal level. The decision has been made by the U.S. Supreme Court, and I will do everything in my power to make sure a woman’s right to choose is in no way infringed from what we have here in Connecticut state law,” Logan said at a debate hosted by CT Public on Oct. 20, 2022.
While Wednesday night’s debate largely focused on policy, Logan was later asked to clarify if he supports and will vote for Donald Trump on Nov. 5. Logan has largely avoided discussing the former president, who has handily lost the state though still has a loyal GOP base of supporters in Connecticut, and Hayes has chided him for not taking a definitive public stance.
The Waterbury Republican American reported in June that Logan told attendees at a rally in Kent to turn off their devices and then said he voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and planned to do so again in November.
“I cannot in good conscience support four more years of the bad policies from the Biden-Harris administration,” Logan said at first. He said earlier in the debate he would work with either new administration regardless of party.
When pressed again, Logan said he would support the “presidential ticket of this election” and then clarified he meant “the Republican presidential ticket of this election” while still avoiding Trump’s name.
“We were waiting with bated breath for that response,” debate host Erin Connolly said.
While fielding a question about America’s role in the conflict roiling the Middle East, a protester interrupted Hayes’ response from the stage. Holding a keffiyeh, the protester shouted “[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu doesn’t care about the hostages” and chanted “Free Palestine” as a police officer escorted him off the stage and arrested him. After the protester’s removal, the debate resumed.
Hayes said the U.S. has a responsibility to back allies like Israel and noted her meetings with families of hostages who want a negotiated ceasefire as the war hit the one-year mark this week. Hostages, including Americans, are still being held in Gaza, while tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed from Israeli attacks.
“I’m the only one who has even acknowledged the suffering of the Palestinian people,” Hayes said, referring to Logan, before acknowledging the protester who interrupted the live broadcast. “I understand people are passionate. They have a right to be passionate.”
Logan pushed back, saying that Hayes has offered “tepid support” for Israel. He condemned the suffering “on both sides” and said he supports a two-state solution.
Following the hour-long debate, Logan immediately claimed that Hayes insulted immigrants and his background as the American-born son of immigrants from Guatemala when she said he should go back to where he came from, a gibe she made when noting he was from Ansonia, a community outside the 5th District.
“When the congresswoman right here on stage told everyone that I should go back to where I came from, I think that was just absolutely despicable,” Logan said, calling it an offense to immigrants.
Logan declined to say if he took similar offense to Trump’s comments about immigrants, including his false claim that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets and his threat to deport them, regardless of their legal status.
“I haven’t heard all of the statements that he made, but I have many friends and folks in the community, the Haitian community, and they’re great,” Logan said. “All those I know are great people, and I support them. And they have every right to be here legally in the United States of America.”
Hayes said her comment clearly was a reference to him being “a carpetbagger” who takes up residence in the district while running for office, then returns to Ansonia, the community he represented in the state Senate.
“It’s very clear that Mr. Logan is a carpetbagger. It came up in the last election. He said after the election he would move to the district permanently,” Hayes said, adding that he “still has not moved here permanently, still has not moved his family here. But I know how their campaign works. They try to take comments out of context, spin them, put them out and create a narrative around them.”
“If it needs to be clarified, Mr. Logan needs to go back to Ansonia,” she added. “And he’s been on the ballot in 2016, 2018, 2020, ’22 and ’24. He only comes to the 5th District to run for Congress and then returns back to Ansonia after the election is over.”
Connecticut Mirror staff writer Mark Pazniokas contributed to this report.
The Connecticut Mirror/Connecticut Public Radio federal policy reporter position is made possible, in part, by funding from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation.
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.
