Connecticut New Members 2019

Rep.-elect Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.-05)

DATE OF BIRTH: March 8, 1973
RESIDENCE: Wolcott, Conn.
OCCUPATION: Public school official
EDUCATION: B.A., Southern Connecticut State University; M.A., University of Saint Joseph
FAMILY: Husband, Milford; four children

Jahana Hayes is back in the nation’s capital, this time as a member of Congress.

Hayes first gained national attention when she was chosen as the 2016 Teacher of the Year and traveled to Washington to meet then-President Obama. Snippets from the award ceremony showing an overjoyed Hayes helped her 2018 campaign videos go viral.

As a first-time candidate, she defeated Mary Glassman, a former local elected official, in the primary despite Glassman receiving the state party’s endorsement. Hayes won the general in the solidly blue district against Republican candidate Manny Santos.

Hayes becomes one of the first black woman elected to Congress from a New England state and the first black Democratic House member from Connecticut.

On the stump, Hayes shared stories of growing up in a Connecticut housing project and raising her first child as a teenage mother, as well as earning her college degree and becoming an educator.