Connecticut Republicans pick candidates to take on 2 veteran Democrats in Congress

With the fight for Congress on the line, Republicans are poised to finalize their field of challengers in Connecticut, which hasn’t sent a Republican to Washington in nearly two decades.

Tuesday’s primary comes as candidates in the state’s marquee congressional race are already set: Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes, who is seeking a fourth term, will face a rematch with Republican George Logan, a former state senator. Logan lost to Hayes in 2022 by about 2,000 votes, from a quarter of a million cast.

Republicans are now choosing the people they think are best positioned to carry the party’s banner in less competitive races against two longtime Democratic representatives: Sen. Chris Murphy and Rep. Jim Himes.

In the Senate primary, Gerry Smith, the top elected official in the town of Beacon Falls, faces Matt Corey, a restaurant operator from Glastonbury.

Both say they believe Murphy can be beaten but acknowledge that it will be a challenge. Connecticut voters have not elected a Republican to the Senate since the late Lowell P. Weicker in 1982.

Corey, who served in the Navy, lost to Murphy by a margin of 20 percentage points in 2018, but he contends that the mood among voters in 2024 benefits Republicans, given the frustration with high energy costs and inflation.

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