A North Haven physician is asking voters in Connecticut’s 1st Congressional District to send her to Washington even though she doesn’t currently live among them. Republican Dr. Amy Chai is challenging former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin in the Nov. 3 general election, and she says that if she wins, she’ll simply move into the district afterward.
A Doctor Running From Outside District Lines
Chai is the Republican taking on Bronin, a Democrat, according to NBC Connecticut, which notes she is a physician specializing in internal medicine and addiction services. Per the CT Mirror, Chai said she’ll move to the 1st District if she wins the election. The federal qualifications for the U.S. House require a representative to be an inhabitant of the state, not specifically the congressional district, according to the House of Representatives, which also lists the age and citizenship requirements for the office.
Chai was previously reported to live in North Haven during an earlier campaign, according to the New Haven Independent. That 2022 run saw her challenge Democratic incumbent Rosa DeLauro in Connecticut’s 3rd District as an independent endorsed by the Libertarian Party, the outlet reported, and she also sought the Independent Party’s nomination that cycle. As the Hartford Courant reports, Chai lost that four-way race to DeLauro and would, if elected this time, become the first Republican to win the 1st District since 1956.
Bronin’s Path to the Nomination
Bronin, 47, is a former Hartford mayor who served eight years in that post before exploring a run for governor in 2018, the Courant reports. He won the four-way Democratic primary in August, defeating longtime U.S. Rep. John Larson and two other candidates, according to the same report. Bronin took 53.5% of the primary vote to Larson’s 34.7%, according to CT NewsJunkie, a margin the Courant separately described as nearly 20 percentage points, with Larson receiving 33.7% in that outlet’s tally. The Courant also reports that Jillian Gilchrest took 6.8% of the primary vote and Ruth Fortune took 5%, while Larson had represented the district for 28 years before his defeat.
Chai has said she chose to run in the 1st District because she believes she has crossover appeal and wants voters to focus on issues rather than party labels, per the Courant. She has also said her place of residence isn’t relevant to her candidacy, and that she wants what she calls radical transparency in government along with scrutiny of who profits from the problems facing voters, the Courant reports.
Money Gap Mirrors a Statewide Pattern
The financial contrast between the two campaigns is stark. Bronin raised about $629,000, spent $872,000, and still had $357,000 on hand as of Sept. 30, according to the CT Mirror. Chai, by comparison, had raised nearly $21,000, spent about $16,000, and had just $307 left in the bank after the same date, the same report shows — a gap the Courant describes as Bronin holding more than 1,000 times Chai’s cash on hand. CT Mirror notes that Democratic congressional candidates across Connecticut generally held a significant fundraising advantage over Republican challengers heading into the midterms.
Affordability remains one of the top issues candidates are hearing about from voters, whether tied to food, gas, housing or utility costs, according to the same CT Mirror report. Regulating artificial intelligence continues to be a top priority for Bronin, the outlet adds. Chai, for her part, has drafted federal legislation that would expand limits on private equity firms buying up single-family homes and has proposed a Hartford pilot program to build affordable homeownership opportunities on underutilized properties, according to CT Public, which notes the district covers parts of Hartford, Litchfield and Middlesex counties.
A District Stretching to the Massachusetts Border
Connecticut’s 1st District contains 27 towns and extends as far north as the Massachusetts border, according to the Courant, which lists Hartford, West Hartford, East Hartford, Manchester, Windsor, South Windsor, Newington and Rocky Hill among its communities. Also on the November ballot are Green Party nominee Mary Sanders and independent write-in candidate Mark Stewart Greenstein, the Courant reports.
Bronin has said he’s more concerned about the prospect of Chai casting votes for a Republican-led Congress than about where she lives, according to the Courant. He has said Congress should re-establish itself as a co-equal branch of government and address corruption and economic concerns, the paper reports, and his campaign said it has been contacting voters to encourage them to make a voting plan and hear his message.
Chai’s Life Outside Politics
Outside the campaign trail, Chai holds a master’s degree in epidemiology and has authored five books, with a sixth, titled “Addiction Proof Your Kids,” in progress, according to the Courant. She homeschooled her two children for 10 years and won the U.S. Presidential Teacher Award in 2011 for that work, the paper reports. She is married to a surgeon she met in medical school, has lived in Connecticut for 13 years, and entered politics four years ago, per the same account. Chai has also said she has experienced threats, online harassment and vulgar language during the campaign, the Courant reports.
Early voting began Monday and runs through Nov. 1 ahead of the Nov. 3 general election, according to the CT Mirror voter guide. Whatever happens, the race marks the first open contest for the seat in nearly three decades, with Larson’s long tenure now over and Republicans hoping to end a drought that stretches back to the Eisenhower era.
