HARTFORD, Conn. — In a political blow for candidate George Logan, a key national Republican fund is withdrawing $600,000 in planned commercials and instead redirecting that money to other candidates.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, which is tied to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, is “shifting cash from long-shot targets to more conventional pickup opportunities,” according to Axios, a national political website that is read closely by Washington insiders.

Logan and U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes are locked in a tight rematch after Hayes won two years ago by less than one percentage point in the sprawling, 41-town district that stretches from Simsbury to Danbury to Salisbury along the New York and Massachusetts borders.

“But the district voted for Biden by 11 percentage points in 2020 and is rated as “lean Democrat” by Cook Political Report,” Axios wrote.

The 5th Congressional District race is being watched nationally because it could help decide the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and help determine who will be the next House Speaker. Nationally, the Democrats are re-assessing House races in the same way, which is common every two years in mid-October as both parties re-allocate money to the candidates with the best chance of winning.

Logan noted that Connecticut television stations have been flooded with commercials by two major committees, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the House Majority PAC, to help Hayes in a tight race.

“Jahana Hayes has been a disappointment to the people of the 5th District since she took office, which is why she’s the only Democrat in the country, in a district Joe Biden won by 11%, that’s required millions of dollars in campaign support from Washington Democrats who are so desperate to keep this seat they will say and do anything to win,” Logan said. “In the final days of the election, we are confident we have the winning message and people in the district are ready for a change.”

But Hayes said that an Emerson College poll that showed she was ahead of Logan by only 3 percentage points was not representative of other internal polls in the race that show her with a larger lead. As a result, the move by Republicans makes sense, she said.

“If all the polling [like Emerson] suggested that it was that close, the national Republicans would not be pulling out,” Hayes told The Courant in an interview. “The Emerson polling was inconsistent with anything we have seen. … If Mike Johnson’s polling showed it was a dead heat, they wouldn’t be pulling up stakes and moving somewhere else. That’s pretty basic. Anyone who ever ran a campaign or worked on a campaign, that’s pretty basic. If you’re within striking distance and you’re that close, you don’t abandon all the resources and say we’re not going to help any more.”

Hayes added, “Contrary to whatever Mr. Logan says, if Mike Johnson thought he could get a Republican seat which will help him to have a larger majority, he would be working hard to secure that victory.”

Hayes declined to reveal the details of the internal polling or the amount that she believes she is in the lead.

Republicans, though, are not buying it.

“Obviously, we still think George is going to be the next Congressman,” Connecticut Republican chairman Ben Proto said Wednesday.

Martha’s Vineyard and Chicago

One of the issues in the campaign has been the massive flooding that destroyed roads in multiple towns and caused millions of dollars in damage on Aug. 18.

Despite the flooding, Hayes attended the Democratic National Convention and remained in Chicago for the festivities as Kamala Harris was nominated as president. Hayes said, however, that she and the Congressional delegation worked at “lightning speed” to successfully obtain a federal disaster declaration so that money could begin flowing from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as FEMA.

On Tuesday, The New York Post published a story with a headline that stated: “Rep. Jahana Hayes splurged nearly $13K on oysters, Martha’s Vineyard trips and more as residents grappled with historic flooding.”

Hayes, though, said that the Martha’s Vineyard trip lasted three days before the flooding — on Aug. 11, 12, and 13. She said she attended six events, including four fundraisers in three days, in order to raise money for her campaign. This included Connecticut residents who have a home on Martha’s Vineyard, where fundraisers have been held every year except during the coronavirus pandemic.

Saying she was not on the Vineyard during the flooding, Hayes blasted the “completely egregious New York Post story” by “a complete smear rag” that was published two weeks before Election Day.

“Everybody knows that I was in Chicago,” she said. “It was broadcast on every major television station. I was not in Martha’s Vineyard on the days following the flood.”

After the flooding knocked out roads and businesses in Connecticut, Hayes said she started working in Chicago in the effort to obtain federal money from FEMA.

Asked if she would have returned home sooner if she had a chance to do it again, Hayes said, “When I left on Sunday, there was no weather prediction. … On Monday, when we were trying to get flights, everything had been grounded. So the earliest I could have come back was on the flight on Tuesday night and then Wednesday morning. So yeah, I probably should have come back on Wednesday morning. But by then, I was like OK, everyone is here. Let’s see what we can get done. I was trying to get in the President’s ear and was on with the FEMA administrators and had been in constant communication with every one of the municipal leaders in my district who had been impacted. In 2024, I can communicate with people like that.”

But Logan said that Hayes could have returned home from Chicago sooner.

“This is about priorities, and Jahana Hayes has consistently chosen her party over the people of this district, which is not surprising given her extremely partisan record,” Logan said Wednesday. “She spent thousands of dollars partying in Chicago and lied about not being able to find a flight home, while other leaders in Connecticut have done the opposite, including Governor Lamont.”

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