• Press Release

EMILYs List Congratulates Jahana Hayes on Her Victory in Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District

November 10, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2022

EMILYs List Congratulates Jahana Hayes on Her Victory in Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, congratulates Rep. Jahana Hayes on her victory in Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District. EMILYs List President Laphonza Butler released the following statement: 

“EMILYs List is thrilled to congratulate Rep. Jahana Hayes on her victory today. Her leadership through the global pandemic and her work as the representative for the people of Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District has improved lives and changed futures for women, children and working families, and we know that she will continue to do just that during her next term in Congress.”

Jahana Hayes is a teacher and community leader who plans to continue fighting for Connecticut families in Congress. A lifelong Connecticut resident, she grew up in a Waterbury public housing project. Hayes’ family struggled with poverty and addiction. After she became a teen mom, she went back to school to become a teacher, overcoming barriers to break the cycle of poverty with the support of her community. She enrolled in her local community college and went on to earn her bachelor’s, master’s, and advanced degrees all while working to support her family. Hayes has dedicated her career to public education, and worked as a high school social studies teacher in New Haven and Waterbury. A champion for students and their families, Hayes earned the 2016 Connecticut Teacher of the Year Award and went on to earn the 2016 National Teacher of the Year Award. Hayes has also served as a talent and professional development supervisor for Waterbury Public Schools. When Hayes began her 2018 campaign for Congress, there were no people of color in New England’s congressional delegation, and her victory changed that. Connecticut had never elected a Black woman to Congress, and Hayes became the first with her historic win in 2018. She lives in Wolcott with her husband, a police officer, and is a proud mother of four children.

Women Vote, EMILY's List's independent expenditure arm, invested $75,000 in a television and digital program illustrating Hayes’ opponent’s connection to the national abortion ban being put forth by Republican leadership. 

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, works to elect Democratic pro-choice women up and down the ballot and across the country with a goal of fighting for our rights and our communities. Our work is centered around a fundamental vision: Run. Win. Change the World. EMILYs List has raised over $700 million in service to that vision and has helped Democratic women win competitive elections by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running one of the largest independent expenditure campaigns for Democrats, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 159 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and nearly 1,400 women to state and local office. More than 40% of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Visit www.emilyslist.org for more information.