NEW HAVEN — Hillhouse High School is set to graduate 189 students Friday afternoon and Congresswoman and former teacher of the year, Jahana Hayes will serve as the keynote speaker.
In 2018, Hayes ran for the Democratic nomination for Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District.
Hayes won the primary on August 14, beating Simsbury First Selectman Mary Glassman by a margin of 62 to 38 percent. In the November general election, she faced the Republican candidate, Manny Santos, former mayor of Meriden.
On November 6, 2018, Jahana Hayes declared victory, becoming the first black Democratic House member from Connecticut. With the November election victory of Ayanna Pressley in Massachusetts’s 7th congressional district, they are the first women of color to be elected to Congress from New England.
