GOP commercial blasts U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes for her vote on fentanyl but she defends her stance

National Republicans have launched a television commercial against U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes on the hot-button issue of fentanyl, but Hayes is defending her vote.

The 30-second commercial focuses on a high-profile bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to classify fentanyl in the most dangerous category of drugs.

The commercial opens by showing a police raid as a narrator describes "an epidemic of fentanyl-related deaths" in Connecticut.

"Yet Jahana Hayes was the only member of Congress from Connecticut to oppose a bipartisan bill to permanently classify fentanyl in the most dangerous category of drugs," the announcer says. "The only one."

The ad then closes by saying, "How many more must die, Jahana?"

The ad, by the National Republican Congressional Committee, blasts Hayes as part of a broader effort in her tight rematch against Republican George Logan. Hayes defeated Logan two years ago by less than 1 percentage point, and Republicans have targeted the race with fundraising for Logan by high-ranking members of the House, including Speaker Mike Johnson and oversight committee chairman James Comer.

But Hayes said in an exclusive interview with The Courant that she knew in May 2023 when she was making her decision on the issue she would be sharply criticized. The bipartisan bill, known as the HALT Fentanyl Act, was a priority of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

"The NRCC is correct. I was the only person in the Connecticut delegation who voted against it," Hayes said. "At the time I took this vote, I knew it would be an attack ad. I was warned that it would be an attack ad, and I knew that it would be so I'm not surprised."

Despite knowing the political consequences, Hayes said she had reasons for voting against the measure that was co-sponsored by Republican U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, a seven-term lawmaker from Virginia. The measure passed by 289-133 in the Republican-controlled House. Hayes was among more than 130 Democrats who voted against it.

"My no vote was because this bill didn't do anything to provide prevention, treatment, recovery, harm reduction, or money for law enforcement," Hayes said. "Basically what it said was that anyone knowingly or unknowingly possessing fentanyl in any amount would have a mandatory minimum sentence with no discretion by a judge or anything. For me, I come to this work from a very different place than my colleagues. I saw what the 1994 crime bill did to decimate communities. I know that we cannot incarcerate our way out of a public health crisis."

She continued, "There was no discretion between someone who was a high-level drug trafficker or a teenager who unknowingly possessed something laced with fentanyl. We tried to get amendments added to change that part of the language. There were over 150 groups that came out against this bill, saying it was problematic, and it wasn't a comprehensive approach to both the problem of drug trafficking and overdoses and the public health crisis."

The measure called for classifying fentanyl as a Schedule 1 drug in the same category as heroin, LSD, peyote, and ecstasy, among others.

Personal and political

Politically, Hayes said, "Everybody said it's not going anywhere. It will be easier just to sign onto it. My response was I was in a family and a community that was decimated by the 1994 crime bill, which tried to do this exact same thing. ... The mandatory minimum sentence was a deal breaker for me. People said, 'It has the word 'fentanyl' in it. This is going to be more of a headache.' "

For Hayes, the vote was also personal.

"I remember going back to my office and calling my husband," Hayes recalled. "I said, 'I took this vote for 10-year-old me. I grew up in a family where there was addiction and people who needed help, not incarceration.' ... I come to this from a very different place than everyone else in the delegation. It would have been easy to say, 'I don't want to deal with the aggravation.' ... Not just my family. As a teacher, I remember when we were going to vote on it. I reached out to a friend of mine whose son had died of an overdose. For over a year, she tried to get him help. This bill only sought to criminalize. I've seen too many young kids who unknowingly tried something laced with something."

She added, "For me personally, I remember the 1994 crime bill. I remember what it did to communities. It was an odd direction for us, as a Congress, to put forth a bill that basically did that came thing."

While the bipartisan bill had the support of President Joe Biden, the measure was never debated by the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate.

"Incarceration was the response to fentanyl," she said. "Only incarceration with mandatory minimum sentences with no discretion for the judge to even decide, based on the circumstances, if incarceration was warranted. ... We tried this in the 1990s. It didn't work."

After hearing Hayes's reasoning, state Republican chairman Ben Proto said, "If you're explaining that much, you're losing. ... In the 5th district, where you have large cities like Waterbury, Torrington, New Britain, and Danbury, we're seeing more and more drugs being purposely cut with fentanyl and young people who don't know it's cut with fentanyl, and it's killing them. ... The very fact that you had Rosa DeLauro and John Larson — probably two of the more progressive members of that caucus — voting for it should tell you something. Her vote was bad. Her vote was wrong, and her vote is going to kill people in the 5th district."

Tight race

The Hayes – Logan race is being watched nationally because it could help determine the majority in the U.S. House, where Republicans are trying to preserve tight majority and Democrats are trying to win back the chamber that Democrats had held under then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

That dynamic has prompted each side to target the race, guaranteeing that millions of dollars will be spent both by the candidates and outside groups at the national level.

Hayes defeated Logan by less than 1 percentage point in a squeaker in 2022, making it one of the closest House races in the entire country. The rematch is expected to be close once again with five weeks remaining before election day on Nov. 5.

A former national teacher of the year, Hayes, who lives in Wolcott, battled in 2022 in her closest race yet. She won races for the seat in 2018 and 2020 by 12 points each time as Republicans fared poorly in Connecticut in the last two cycles under Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump.

In a preview of this year's rematch, Hayes and Logan clashed sharply in 2022 over abortion, crime, inflation, gun control, education, and the economy, among others.

The race was decided in 2022 by about 2,000 votes out of more than 253,000 cast, translating into less than one percentage point as Hayes went back to Congress for her third term.

The candidates were finishing up their fundraising for the third quarter on Sept. 30, but those numbers will likely not be released officially under mid-October. As of the last filing period that ended on June 30, Hayes had raised about $2.5 million and had $2 million in cash on hand. Logan had raised about $1.5 million and had about $1 million on hand. Those numbers, though, are constantly changing as money is being raised and spent on a daily basis.

Democrats have won nine straight elections in the 5th Congressional district since a young Chris Murphy defeated veteran U.S. Rep. Nancy Johnson of New Britain in 2006. In addition, Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Joe Biden carried the district in both 2016 and 2020 over Republican Donald J. Trump.

Third-party money

Outside money has been pouring into the 5th district as the race is watched nationally.

The Democratic National Committee announced that it is pouring an additional $70,000 into Connecticut to help the "ground game" for Hayes and others to get out the vote in the final five weeks before election day. The state Democratic Party says that the Hayes race is "the number one priority" in this election cycle.

A third-party group, known as Americans for Prosperity Action in Arlington, Va., has been sending two-sided, full color fliers to homes across the district. With Logan's picture on both sides, the mailer says Logan will "lower inflation, secure the border" and keep communities safe.

With the stakes so high, the spending will continue.

"We have reserved over $1 million in television and digital advertising in Hartford that started with our first ad, which called out Jahana Hayes for failing to act on the fentanyl crisis," said Republican spokeswoman Savannah Viar.