With five weeks before the election, Vice President Kamala Harris is traveling Wednesday to New Britain — a key city in Connecticut’s closest Congressional race.
Harris will participate in a roundtable discussion on abortion with U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes and Alexis McGill Johnson, the national president of Planned Parenthood.
Harris is making the trip to “highlight the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to protecting women’s reproductive rights,” her office said.
She will appear at Central Connecticut State University in front of a live audience with Hayes and McGill Johnson, who earned a master’s degree in political science from Yale University and has taught at both Yale and Wesleyan University in Middletown. No other events or fundraisers were announced Monday as part of the Harris trip.
Abortion has been a major issue in the battle between Hayes and Republican George Logan, a former state senator who supporters believe is the party’s best candidate in the 5th Congressional District since then-state senator Andrew Roraback in 2012. Democrats have won every election in the district, which stretches from Simsbury to Danbury to the Massachusetts border, starting in 2006 with an upset victory by Democrat Chris Murphy.
The Hayes campaign declined to comment, saying that the vice president is making an official visit, rather than a campaign stop.
Hayes and Harris have forged a strong alliance since Hayes became the first member of the Connecticut Congressional delegation to endorse Harris for president in July 2019. Many other Democrats, including Gov. Ned Lamont, endorsed Democrat Joe Biden, who was running against Harris at the time. Harris dropped out of the presidential race in December 2019 with low poll ratings as supporters said she had trouble raising campaign money. Biden chose Harris as his running mate in August 2020.
“I have worked closely with Vice President Harris during her time in the Senate on various legislative issues, and she continues to be a strong partner in the administration,” Hayes said. “The upcoming visit will highlight federal action being taken to defend access to reproductive care. During a time when the rights of women are being threatened, having the full support of the Biden-Harris administration is critical in paving a way forward where every woman has the freedom to make her own health care decisions.”
In recent weeks, Logan has sharply criticized frequent television commercials that say he is against abortion. In fact, he says he supports abortion rights.
After the latest commercial, Logan delivered a cease-and-desist letter to Connecticut television stations regarding the ad by the House Majority PAC, a Democratic organization seeking to retain the majority in Washington, D.C.
“Once again, Jahana Hayes and Democrats have resorted to the same blatantly false attack ads to try to paint George Logan as someone he is not,” said campaign manager Paul Amarone. “Whether it’s disparaging George based on his race, or lying about his record on women’s rights, Hayes and Democrats will stop at nothing to remain in power.”
In a recent interview, Logan said, “I believe in a woman’s right to choose. I am not extreme in my point of view when it comes to parental notification or a woman’s right to choose.”
Television commercials have also been broadcast by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, rather than directly by the Hayes campaign. But Logan says he sees no difference.
Hayes, though, said she has had no involvement with the DCCC, which is a separate, third-party organization that is not permitted to coordinate with the candidate on advertising.
“On abortion, I have always been of the opinion that it is between a woman and her doctor,” Hayes told The Courant recently. “It should not be up to government officials. Protecting that right to privacy is something that I have stood firm on. When I had the chance to vote for that with the Women’s Reproductive Health Act in Congress, I voted for it.”
The respected FiveThirtyEight website originally described the battle as a “tossup” but now predicts that Hayes is “favored to win,” based on various polling and other statistical data.
The National Republican Congressional Committee, which is seeking to win back the House from the Democratic majority, has been supporting Logan.
“Kamala Harris is the perfect messenger to remind Connecticut voters that they’re paying higher prices for nearly everything because Jahana Hayes is a rubber stamp for the Biden Administration’s failed agenda,” said Samantha Bullock, a spokeswoman for the NRCC.
New Britain is a crucially important city for each candidate in a tight race. Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel traveled to New Britain recently for the second time in the past six months to rally the troops and echo Logan’s message in reaching out to minority voters.
“As I stand here the day before the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, it’s an exciting time here in the 5th District when we celebrate all cultures, all folks, all different ways of thinking, different backgrounds,” Logan said recently. “I am proud to stand here in New Britain, Connecticut, USA, as the son of Guatemalan immigrants who came to this country to live the American Dream. And today I stand here as your nominee for Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives. Isn’t America great? This is what it’s all about.”
Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com
