Chris Shea knows he is lucky.
As a Navy SEAL and military veteran for more than 30 years, Shea served overseas in multiple deployments and later for five years at the Pentagon during a long military career.
A life-altering moment came in August 2011 when 31 American military troops were killed when their helicopter was hit by enemy fire from the Taliban and crashed in eastern Afghanistan. Shea knew some of the soldiers in the tragedy that American officials said was “the greatest loss of U.S. military lives in a single incident” in the long Afghanistan war.
“Had the timelines switched, I was supposed to be on that helicopter,” Shea recalled earlier this year. “I’ve often wondered like hey, ‘I guess I’ve got something to do in the world that I have not done yet.’ ”
Reflecting on that experience, Shea decided that he should run for Congress against four-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, a Wolcott Democrat who has consistently defeated Republicans seeking to oust her from her seat.
“I figured, why not?” Shea said. “Let’s throw this into the mix as well.”
Rather than sitting on the sidelines and complaining in retirement, Shea said he wants to make a difference. At 56, he is serving as a lieutenant in the North Haven fire department and also running for Congress.
His choices are that he can try to make things better “or I can shake my fist at my TV,” Shea told The Courant in an interview. “You can either talk about it or be about it.”
As a tax-cutting Republican, Shea said that he favors President Donald Trump’s policies of “no tax on tips” and no tax on overtime, which have not been adopted at the state level in Connecticut. As such, employees still pay state income tax on tips and overtime in Connecticut, while they do not pay federal income tax on that income. In addition, Shea strongly believes that transgender girls should not be permitted to play against girls in sports, and he favors the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in June that allows states to limit participation to biological girls only at the high school and college level.
“Biological boys should not be playing,” said Shea, who has a daughter. “It’s a preposterous argument. For me, we shouldn’t be arguing about that. We need to protect our girls and women.”
At the same time, Shea said he served under seven different American presidents from both political parties during his time in the military.
“I’m not running to be Trump,” he said. “I’m not running to replace Trump.”
Shea’s website says he is “running to protect American families, cut wasteful spending in Washington, lower the cost of living, reduce red tape, support law enforcement, and advance pro-worker, pro-business policies that put Connecticut citizens first. Grounded in faith, family, and a lifetime of public service, he is not a career politician, but a proven problem-solver ready to bring grit, common sense, and accountability to Congress.”
Like other SEALs, Shea did not brag about his accomplishments and did not reveal details of the often-secret missions done by the country’s top war fighters. He served two tours in Afghanistan and was also deployed to Sarajevo in the former Yugoslavia and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. At different times, he was a member of SEAL team 8 and team 18.
In his younger days, a political career was not on his radar.
“I often joke that the 25-year-old SEAL in me would probably pop me right in the mouth at the idea of running for office,” Shea said.
On the political end, state Republican chairman Ben Proto said most candidates do not have a similar background that brings them around the world and eventually back to Connecticut.
“Only a handful of people, from a handful of people, make it to become a Navy SEAL,” Proto said. “That [helicopter crash] is the kind of experience that gives us all a different perspective that maybe God had a little different plan for him.”
After leaving his military career, Republican Chris Shea is now a firefighter in North Haven. He is running for Congress against four-term Democratic incumbent Jahana Hayes of Wolcott in the 5th Congressional District. (Shea campaign)
Hayes seeking 5th term
Both Hayes and her campaign are taking nothing for granted in the final weeks.
“Connecticut’s 5th District is not a safe seat,” the campaign stated boldly in an email as a wake-up call to supporters.
In another email, Hayes talked about why she is running for a fifth term.
“My answer is simple: people are hurting right now,” Hayes wrote. “They are paying more for everything. They are watching executive orders upend the federal government. People know what they feel, and they know these policies are not working for them. That is why flipping the House matters so much this November.”
She added, “I do not take any race for granted. Only about 30% of voters in Connecticut’s 5th District are registered Democrats. This district is urban, suburban, and rural, and I have to earn every vote.”
Hayes has always battled in competitive races, particularly her two last races against Republican George Logan, a former state senator. Hayes has been targeted repeatedly by national Republicans, but they have been unable to defeat her at the ballot box. Overall, Republicans have been unable to win the 5th Congressional seat since 2006 when a young Chris Murphy defeated longtime incumbent U.S. Rep. Nancy Johnson of New Britain in an upset. Since then, Democrats have scored a series of victories.
In 2022, Hayes defeated Logan by less than 1 percentage point in a squeaker, making it the eighth closest House race in the entire country, officials said. The rematch in 2024 was expected to be close once again, but Hayes pulled ahead to a solid victory.
The rematch was watched nationally as Republicans eventually held their razor-thin majority in Washington, D.C., and Democrats were stopped from installing a new House Speaker. That dynamic made each side a “target” in the race, guaranteeing that millions of dollars were spent both by the candidates and outside groups.
U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes is seeking a fifth term in Congress. Here, she waves to voters on Election Day in November 2024 in Danbury in the 5th sprawling Congressional district. (Jessica Hill/Special to The Courant)
This year, the respected Cook Political Report says that Hayes “shouldn’t be in any danger of losing reelection” and predicted a Hayes victory in a race that is “solid Democrat” in a blue state.
While money is being raised and spent on a daily basis, public records show that Hayes had outraised Shea by a 4-to-1 margin and had $1 million in cash on hand as of June 30, while Shea had $145,000 in cash on hand as of July 22.
If she wins, Hayes will be running to be her party’s leader of the House Education and Workforce Committee — and she could become chairwoman if Democrats take the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives as they are battling to do. Multiple analysts have predicted that the Democrats can regain the House, but they note that Trump still has two years remaining on his four-year term.
Some educators and labor leaders are pushing for Hayes to be the committee’s next chairwoman.
“I am horrified by what is happening in the Department of Education,” Hayes said. “Trump-appointed Secretary Linda McMahon called closing the agency her ‘final mission.’ I know what that means for civil rights protections, for children with disabilities, and for students across Connecticut and the country.”
She added, “I want to start reversing $187 billion in cuts to SNAP and nutrition programs so children and families have basic nutrition needs met. And I will keep working with our labor partners to raise wages so working people can afford to live in our communities.”
Citing her youth in the Waterbury schools, Hayes also spoke out recently about the Trump administration’s announcement that it was ending at least 57 desegregation cases in more than 10 states with federal oversight, including Connecticut.
The Waterbury case was an outlier as most of the desegregation cases had been filed decades ago by the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice in the South, including 15 in Georgia, 13 in Mississippi, 11 in Louisiana, five in Alabama, and five in Florida. Waterbury is the only case in New England on the current dismissal list.
Hayes also made news recently when asked by host Dennis House on television about U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who would be facing reelection in 2028 if he runs again at the age of 82. But she said she is not thinking about that race.
“I’m focused on the House,” Hayes said. “I’m humbled by the fact that I’m even a member of Congress, so I’m not title-shopping. … I joke about the House and the Senate being the difference between public school and private school, and I’m definitely a public school girl.”
When pressed, Hayes added, “But I think I’d be a great senator.”
U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes is seeking a fifth term in Congress. Here, she gets a hug from a supporter at the Courtyard Waterbury as she waited for election results in November 2024 when she defeated Republican George Logan. (Aaron Flaum/ The Hartford Courant)