This is a closely divided district where either party can win. Jahana Hayes, a Democrat, has taken $17,875 in donations linked to AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group. Chris Shea, a Republican, shows no AIPAC-linked donations in available records.
Key issues in Connecticut
Major issues facing Connecticut, based on 2025–2026 reporting. Compare them with what each candidate says they focus on below.
Cost of living — Affordability is the defining issue of the 2026 election, topping all voter polls.
Energy and utility costs — Residents face high electricity costs, with broad support for lowering utility bills.
Housing costs — Rising housing costs weigh most heavily on younger voters and voters of color.
Tax burden — Taxes rank third among voter concerns as the state debates its fiscal direction.
Immigration enforcement — State leaders publicly oppose stepped-up federal immigration enforcement activity.
Healthcare costs — Healthcare costs rank among the top concerns for Connecticut voters.
Candidates & funding
Jahana Hayes DemocratNominee
AIPAC-linked $17,875FundVoter-reported, career 2024–2026 — methodology replication pending
AIPAC PAC and AIPAC-routed contributions, 2022 cycle. Source: FEC filings via FundVoter.
No 2026 conduit activity detectedFEC filings show no earmarked contributions via conduits this cycle
A PAC can give at most $10K per cycle directly to a candidate. But when individuals route donations through a PAC acting as conduit, there’s no cap on how many donors can be bundled. That’s where the real money moves — not from the PAC’s treasury, but from individuals the PAC steered to the candidate. How conduits work →
2026 fundraising (FEC)$1,290,078 raised · $728,471 spent · $1,084,158 cash on hand through Jun 30, 2026
A PAC can give at most $10K per cycle directly to a candidate. But when individuals route donations through a PAC acting as conduit, there’s no cap on how many donors can be bundled. That’s where the real money moves — not from the PAC’s treasury, but from individuals the PAC steered to the candidate. How conduits work →
2026 fundraising (FEC)$311,676 raised · $166,059 spent · $145,617 cash on hand through Jul 22, 2026
Focus: Retired Navy SEAL and firefighter; 30+ years of military and first-responder service.
FEC campaign finance data through Jul 22, 2026. Campaign dollars, by source.
Jahana Hayes D
Chris Shea R
Raised
$1.3M
$312K
Individuals
$611K47%
$266K85%
PACs & parties
$578K45%
$14K4%
Self-funded
$0
$6000%
Other
$101K8%
$32K10%
AIPAC-linked*
$18K
—
Outside spending†
—
—
* AIPAC-linked money is already counted in the rows above — it flags the pro-Israel share, not extra money.
† Independent spending on ads for or against a candidate. It never goes to their campaign.
“Individuals” covers both small-dollar (under $200) and large donors.
Who are the biggest donors?
Every donor ranked by how much they gave, from the candidate’s own FEC filings — individuals, PACs, and party committees all in one list. Expand a candidate to see theirs, then tap any name to learn more about the donor.
Why are so many gifts exactly $10,000? That’s the legal maximum a PAC can give one candidate for the whole cycle — $5,000 for the primary plus $5,000 for the general — so many PACs give the max. Individuals can give up to $3,500 per election.
Jahana Hayes745 donors
FINANCIAL POSITION
Campaign raised$1.3M
Campaign spent$728K
Cash on hand$1.1M
FEC 2026 through 06/30/2026
CANDIDATE-CONTROLLED MONEY
Individuals47%
PACs / committees45%
Self-funding0%
Share of campaign receipts. FEC 2026.
ROUTED CONTRIBUTIONS
No 2026 conduit activity detected
FEC filings show no earmarked contributions via conduits this cycle. Career AIPAC-linked total (above) may reflect prior cycles. How conduits work →
Membership PAC$10K
PAC$10K
Leadership PAC$10K
Labor PAC$10K
Leadership PAC$10K
Leadership PAC$10K
Membership PAC$10K
Labor PAC$10K
Leadership PAC$10K
Labor PAC$10K
PAC$10K
Labor PAC$10K
Leadership PAC$10K
Leadership PAC$10K
Labor PAC$8K
Leadership PAC$8K
Cooperative PAC$8K
Individual$7K
Individual$7K
Individual$7K
Individual$7K
Individual$7K
Individual$7K
Individual$7K
Individual$7K
Individual$7K
Individual$7K
Individual$7K
Individual$7K
Individual$7K
Leadership PAC$7K
Individual$7K
Leadership PAC$6K
PAC$6K
Trade association PAC$6K
Corporate PAC$6K
Corporate PAC$6K
Trade association PAC$6K
PAC$5K
PAC$5K
Individual$5K
Corporate PAC$5K
Leadership PAC$5K
PAC$5K
Candidate committee$5K
Labor PAC$5K
Labor PAC$5K
Leadership PAC$5K
Cooperative PAC$5K
Corporate PAC$5K
Showing the 50 biggest of 745 donors. The other 695 gave $652K combined.
Plus $169K from small donors giving under $200 each — those aren’t itemized by name.
Individuals gave through these conduits. Conduit is routing layer, not legal donor. General platforms (ActBlue, WinRed) are payment processors, not networks. How conduits work →
Individual$11K
Individual$10K
Individual$10K
Individual$9K
Individual$8K
Individual$7K
Individual$7K
Individual$6K
Individual$5K
Individual$5K
Individual$5K
PAC$5K
Individual$4K
Joint fundraising committee$4K
Individual$4K
Individual$4K
Individual$4K
Individual$4K
Individual$4K
Individual$3K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$2K
Individual$1K
Individual$1K
Individual$1K
Individual$1K
Individual$1K
Individual$1K
Individual$1K
Individual$1K
Individual$1K
Individual$1K
Individual$1K
Individual$1K
Individual$1K
Showing the 50 biggest of 180 donors. The other 130 gave $49K combined.
Plus $63K from small donors giving under $200 each — those aren’t itemized by name.
These figures come from the candidate’s own itemized FEC reports (2026 cycle, through the coverage date above), with amendments applied and refunds netted. Joint fundraising transfers are left out of the ranking: they’re pass-throughs, and the individual donations behind them are listed above. Bank interest, vendor refunds, and other non-donation receipts are excluded. Donor names are as reported — the same person can appear twice if their name was recorded differently. Independent spending on ads is never included here — see the Outside spending column.