Jahana Hayes, the 2016 National Teacher of the Year, has won her race for a U.S. House seat, representing Connecticut鈥檚 5th district.
A former high school history teacher and current district administrator, Hayes, a Democrat, will be the first black woman from the state to serve in Congress.
In her victory speech Tuesday night in Waterbury, Conn., Hayes noted the historic nature of her bid for office. 鈥淵esterday marked 50 years since Shirley Chisholm was elected as the first African-American woman to go to Congress,鈥� she said. 鈥淭oday we made history. This history teacher is making history.鈥�
Hayes defeated Republican Manny Santos, a Marine veteran and immigrant from Portugal, for the open seat. Santos is a former one-term mayor of Meriden, Conn., and a supporter of President Donald Trump.
During an election cycle in which more than 170 current teachers ran for office鈥攁bout 100 of them making it past their primaries鈥擧ayes put education at the forefront of her campaign. Her platform called for more resources, support, and training for teachers, as well as increasing career-readiness training for students and making college more affordable.
She is also part of the wave of first-time Democratic candidates鈥攚hich includes many women of color鈥攚ho ran this year on progressive platforms. She鈥檚 advocated for single-payer health care, raising the minimum wage, and creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. She has said that Congress needs to look more like the population that it鈥檚 representing.
鈥淧eople have said to me, 鈥楽he doesn鈥檛 have what it takes. She鈥檚 not built for this,鈥� 鈥� she said, during her victory speech. 鈥淣ot only am I built for this, I鈥檓 Brass City built for it,鈥� said Hayes, referencing Waterbury, where she grew up and taught.
A Student-Centered Approach to Policy
Hayes said her win demonstrated that voters 鈥渂elieve that we have to protect the future that we promise for our kids.鈥� As a 15-year veteran teacher and administrator in the Waterbury, Conn., public schools, Hayes鈥� work with students has informed her views on education policy.
On the campaign trail, she voiced strong opposition to arming teachers, saying that putting guns in educators鈥� hands would only make schools more dangerous. In an Oct. 17 debate against Santos, Hayes said that she supports the right to own firearms鈥攕he鈥檚 married to a police officer and has said she has guns in her home鈥攂ut that teachers shouldn鈥檛 be tasked with operating a gun in a crisis situation.
鈥淚 worked in a high school with 1,300 children. I would never want the responsibility of securing a firearm in that building,鈥� she said during the debate last month. 鈥淚 would never want to have to explain to a parent that I did not lock my desk, or I thought it was on my person, or I鈥檓 not sure how your child got ahold of my gun.鈥�
Santos, referencing the news that the U.S. Department of Education , said he thought individual communities should be able to make the decision based on the local context.
Connecticut鈥檚 5th district encompasses Newtown, where a gunman shot and killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.
Given this context, said Hayes, 鈥渁ny conversation that begins with arming teachers is so incredibly tone deaf, and does not recognize the hurt and the pain that this community is still dealing with on a daily basis.鈥�
Hayes also said she would advocate to maintain protections for LGBTQ students and prevent civil rights protections from 鈥渂eing ripped away.鈥�
When highlighting the value of education, Hayes has often referenced her own childhood. She grew up in public housing in Waterbury, raised by her grandmother as her mother struggled with addiction. Hayes became pregnant with her first child while in high school.
鈥淭eachers exposed me to a different world by letting me borrow books to read at home and sharing stories about their college experiences,鈥� . 鈥淭hey challenged me to dream bigger and imagine myself in a different set of circumstances.鈥�
Hayes is a strong proponent of service learning and civic awareness.
In her work as a teacher, it was important to Hayes that her students鈥攎ost of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds鈥攈ad the opportunity to participate in the community. 鈥淭hese kids are reminded that they too can be givers,鈥� . Hayes has said that it was her students who inspired her run for office.
鈥楻ising Star鈥�
Hayes, who was the favored candidate for the seat that has been held by Democrats for the past 10 years, outraised her opponent by more than $1 million and saw support from established players in Connecticut politics. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, for example, who held that Congressional seat from 2007 to 2013, campaigned with her.
鈥淛ahana is really now a rising in star in Connecticut politics, even though she鈥檚 never held any elected office before,鈥� Gary Rose, the chair of the department of government at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., said in an interview earlier this week.
Having won the National Teacher of the Year award lent Hayes name recognition and trust in the race, said Rose. But the conditions that have been driving teachers across the country to run for office鈥攗nderresourced schools and low pay鈥攁ren鈥檛 as central to the Connecticut district鈥檚 congressional race, he said. Instead, taxes, jobs, and the economy are bigger concerns there.
But for Hayes, education is inextricably tied to these issues.
鈥淲hen we鈥檙e having a conversation about jobs and the economy, I鈥檓 thinking about the child who comes into my classroom and says, 鈥榃e鈥檙e changing schools because we have to move because we lost our house,鈥� she said in the Oct. 17 debate. 鈥淲hen we鈥檙e talking about policies, I鈥檓 thinking about people.鈥�
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