Jessica Hill/AP Photo; Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo; Insider
Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes defeated Republican George Logan in Connecticut's 5th Congressional District.
Polls closed in the state at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Hayes, serving her second term in the US House, serves on the Committees of Education and Labor, and Agriculture where she is the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations.
Prior to her time in Congress, she was a history teacher for 15 years at John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury, Connecticut, where she earned the distinction of 2016 National Teacher of the Year.
In Congress, Hayes has focused on equitable access to quality education, affordable health care, labor, agriculture, and veterans issues.
Hayes was first elected in 2018, making her the first Black woman to ever represent Connecticut in Congress.
Logan, Hayes' challenger, is a former two-term state senator representing Connecticut's 17th Senate District.
In the state Senate, he served as the assistant Republican leader and ranking member of the Human Services and Veterans Affairs Committees.
Connecticut's 5th Congressional District runs along the state's western border and covers the cities of New Britain, Danbury, Waterbury, and Meriden. It's the least Democratic-leaning district in a state that has an all-Democratic congressional delegation.
In 2020, Joe Biden scored an 11 percentage point margin of victory over President Donald Trump under the district's previous boundaries. The district remained almost identical in redistricting following the 2020 Census.
According to OpenSecrets, Hayes has raised more than $2.4 million, spent $2.2 million, and has about $1.2 million on hand, as of October 19. Her opponent, Logan, has raised $1 million, spent $800,000, and has $198,000 cash on hand, as of October 19.
As of late October, a dozen super PACs, national party committees, politically active nonprofits, and other non-candidate groups have together spent about $9.5 million to advocate for or against candidates in this race, including during the race's primary phase. Congressional Leadership Fund, a pro-Logan hybrid PAC, leads all spenders, with pro-Hayes hybrid PAC House Majority PAC and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The race between Hayes and Logan is rated as "lean Democratic" by Inside Elections, "lean Democratic" by The Cook Political Report, and "leans Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
