Botelho makes third bid for congressional seat

By Scott Benjamin

DANBURY --- Over the 2022 and 2024 cycles she was like the rock singer who sent an unsolicited demo to a major label without a referral from her manager or an industry big wig.

Some Republican state legislators were only vaguely aware that someone was running against George Logan for the GOP nomination in the Fifth Congressional District.

They might have heard that she had canvassed for Danbury Mayor Dean Esposito in Fall 2021, but didn’t know Michele Botelho by name.

Some Republican town committees in the district ignored her and others said she was welcome to speak at their upcoming meeting, but they already had endorsed Logan, the former two-term state senator who moved from Ansonia to Meriden.

The Republican National Congressional Committee (RNCC) knew Logan’s name.

After Logan started getting standing ovations at oatmeal with berries charity breakfasts from the Newtown flagpole to the Sharon Clock Tower, they established a community outreach center in New Britain, a Democratic stronghold, demonstrating confidence that he could make inroads there.

Logan lost in the closest photo finish since Victory Gallop denied Real Quiet the triple crown. Less than 2,000 votes separated him from Democrat incumbent Jahana Hayes of Wolcott, the former national teacher of the year who had initially captured the seat in 2018.

Logan returned in 2024 and the NRCC brought in U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to keynote the opening of a Battle Station in Farmington in an effort to garner more suburban votes I the district, which encompasses 41 municipalities – stretching from Newtown to North Canaan.

However, Logan didn’t appear to know Donald Trump’s name – even though over the last three elections he has collectively amassed more votes than anyone in American presidential elections.

After an October 2024, debate between Logan and Hayes, Associated Press reporter Susan Haigh stated that after the debate Logan “would only say he supported the top of the GOP ticket.”

Sacred Heart University Government Professor Gary Rose recently stated, “One cannot discount the fact that [Trump’s] presidency has accelerated the movement of voters in several towns within the Fifth District towards the Democrats.”

Bill Kuroski of Bethel, a friend of Botelho’s, said, “You didn’t feel that Logan was representing the Republican Party. He was representing more of himself.”

Patch.com left three voice-mail messages seeking comment from Logan. None of them were returned.

In contrast, on a scale of 10, Botelho of Danbury gives Trump “a nine and a half.”

“The Trump administration is pushing policies that would take away America’s dependence on foreign nations to foster investment and good-paying jobs. It hasn't engaged in endless wars," she explained in an interview with Patch.com.

Leadership scholar Gautam Mukunda categorized presidents in his 2022 book, “Picking Presidents,” as filtered – having extensive government experience – or unfiltered – those who have not served much in government and haven’t been vetted by the pollical elite.

Mukunda rated Trump as the most unfiltered president of all time. He wrote that the best of the unfiltered presidents combined intellectual curiosity with management skills.

Botelho said Trump possesses those traits.

“Public trust in government with both political parties is at an all-time low.,” she exclaimed regarding Trump’s appeal. “Voters were and are looking for someone to make their lives better and more prosperous.”

Botelho has left her job as a para-legal and is volunteering with elder care and single parents in section 8 housing so that she can focus on the campaign.

Said Botelho, “They [the town committees] have been more accepting this time.”

There is one other challenger– Jonathan De Barros of the Terryville section of Plymouth, who has been campaigning for months and was criticized this fall for criticizing Republican state Party Chairman Ben Proto and two GOP members of the state Senate on social media.

Another potential challenger, Chris Shea of Cheshire, stated in an e-mail message to Patch.com that he will likely make a decision in January on entering the race.

Botelho said that she doesn’t know much about De Barros.

De Barros said, “To win, you have to be aggressive. She ran twice and dropped out before the convention both times.”

He questioned whether Botelho could annex the 48 to 50 percent of the vote in the cities that is needed for a Republican victory. Democrats usually garner large pluralities in the district’s four largest cities – Waterbury, Danbury, New Britain and Meriden.

Matt Grimes, who sought the Republican nomination for first selectman in Brookfield in 2023 and has been active in GOP state campaigns for decades, said he has done research of the last 86 years in Connecticut and the only Republican elected to a U.S. House or Senate seat over that time without either experience in the General Assembly or as a top-elected municipal official was Prescott Bush – the father of George H.W. Bush and grandfather of George W. Bush – who had been a stock broker before ascending to the U.S. Senate in 1952.

Grimes said based on that finding, in the Fifth District the Tier A candidates for the Republicans in the Fifth District should be GOP state Senate leader Stephen Harding (R-30) of Brookfield, New Milford Mayor Pete Bass, state Rep. John Piscopo of Thomaston, and three-term former Mayor Elinor Carbone of Torrington.

Republican strategist Marc Dillon of Watertown said the district “is not the same” as when he worked on former state Sen. Andrew Roraback’s 2012 campaign in which he lost in an open-seat race to Democrat Elizabeth Esty by about 8,000 votes.

He said the Diploma Divide – in which college graduates tend to support Democrats – is one of the factors, but not the only one.

Dillon added that now that Hayes is in her fourth term she has become “more entrenched, noting that she has become a “Bonafide” fund-raiser.

Remarked Rose, “Several of the smaller towns within the district that at one time voted for Republican congressional candidates have become competitive two -party towns or have realigned with the Democratic Party. Much of this is due to women voters in particular who in Connecticut lean in a moderately liberal or progressive orientation.”

He added that the Fifth District has been “has been evolving into yet another one of Connecticut’s safe Democratic seats.”

The late Jimmy Dyer, the Democrat former mayor of Danbury, graduated from Western Connecticut State University in December 1971 and landed a job in U.S. Rep. Monagan’s (D-5) Waterbury constituent service office.

When the U.S. House went into the election-drive district recess in early October 1972, Monagan, the chairman of a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee, went on a 10-day congressional fact-finding mission to Europe and Dyer answered the daily phone calls back in the district.

He once recalled, “I told him that he needed to get back here and campaign because Ron Sarasin was on the front page of a different newspaper every day. With Nixon heading toward a landslide you could see what could happen.”

Sarasin, then a state representative from Beacon Falls, narrowly prevailed, and in the ensuing years the district changed from tuna blue to psychedelic purple.

Voters elected nine congressmen – five Democrats and four Republicans -between 1972 and 2018. Four them were defeated in re-election bids.

There were more epic battles than anywhere this side of Superman vs. Lex Luthor.

In 2002, following a redistricting consolidation in Connecticut, two incumbents – Republican Nancy Johnson of New Britain and Democrat Jim Maloney of Danbury – ran against each other, with Johnson, who had been representing the now-defunct Sixth District winning.

However, the Democrats with Chris Murphy of Hartford, who has since ascended to the U.S. Senate, Elizabeth Esty of Cheshire and now Hayes, have combined to collect the last 10 consecutive elections.

Rose commented “When one combines the realignment or tendencies of former GOP strongholds with the urban Democratic communities within the district then it is no small wonder that Jahana Hayes has a safe seat.”

However, Botelho, who has lived in Danbury for 26 years, said voters are frustrated, noting that only 11,000 of the eligible 48,000 voters turned out in the Hat City’s recent municipal election.

She said they are most concerned about “the cost of living,” as inflation has been high since the recovery from the 2020 pandemic.

“I’ve been in grocery stores in Danbury where people didn’t have enough money and I’ve helped them,” she remarked.

Botelho said she blames the high inflation on reckless spending by Democrat former President Joe Biden during the pandemic which sent rate over nine percent in 2022.

Wall Street Journal reporter Chao Deng recently stated that, “High prices, a fragile job market and anxiety about President Trump’s tariffs have helped drag consumer sentiment, as measured by the University of Michigan, down near historic lows this year.”

Botelho contends that Trump’s tariffs have not contributed to the higher rate of inflation.

She exclaimed, “Some have called it a Trade War, but President Trump is trying to level the playing field. The U.S. has a 2.5% tariff on Germany, while Germany holds a 10% tariff on American cars, not to mention we help pay to protect these countries.”

Two of Trump’s outside economic advisors – Stephen Moore and Art Laffer, recently wrote in The Wall Street Journal that the answer is to trim the 15.3 percent federal payroll tax for 12 to 18 months by up to five points - “evenly divided between employers and employee. They stated that it “would provide every low- and middle-income American worker an immediate pay raise while lowering labor costs and prices. Tariff revenue could cover the cost.”

Botelho supports that plan, saying it would “release the burden off the American people.”

She also endorses indexing capital gains to inflation, which “would protect families being taxes double due to inflation.”

Botelho said Trump’s proposal to allow 50-year mortgages, instead of the traditional 30-year limit, “is needed at this time. It will bring down the principal. Young people need help.”

However, Michelle Singletary, a Washington Post financial columnist, wrote recently, “True, a half-century mortgage means monthly payments are lower than a more traditional 30-year loan. But there are no real ‘savings,’ as more of those payments would be earmarked for interest.”

“Meaning it won’t help families build generational wealth. It’s more like being a perpetual renter,” Singletary added.

On another topic: Botelho said Trump made a wise decision in his One Big Beautiful Bill by placing more burden on the states for Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding.

“They know their constituencies better,” she commented.

Botelho, who has been a tutor and para-educator in public schools, said she supports the U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing Trump to resume dismantling the federal Department of Education, which was established in 1979.

“The Department of Education has failed our children while taking taxpayer dollars with no accountability, which has led to the perpetration of radical ideologies and divisiveness concepts,” she complained.

Even though Botelho enjoyed her prior work with public school educators, she home-schooled her children from the middle school years onward.

She said in one year her daughter “tested nationally three grades above.”

“Homeschooling is more focused,” Botelho explained. “There were no kids with bad attitudes being a bad influence. There’s more time for family life. They learn not just how to deal with children, but with adults There is more discipline.”

What about being isolated from a school full of students?

Commented Botelho, “It didn’t impact them at all. In fact, it made them more gracious to the adult population.”

She said that her daughter learned how to play the violin and piano and her son was engaged in sports and hobbies.

The Democrats in the Danbury state legislative delegation have argued against state funding for a charter school in the city.

Botelho disagreed, saying, “There has to be more choice. Parents should have – with their property taxes –A big say in what they’re being taught.”

She added, ”Just as what store has lower prices, parents should be able to determine what school is best for my child.”

Resources:

Interview with Michelle Botelho, Patch.com, on Saturday, November 15, 2025.

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/re...

https://apnews.com/article/connecticut-house-hayes-logan-072869a6d179939b3bbbd08d23116a74

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/a-...

https://www.businessinsider.co...

https://www.washingtonpost.com...

https://ctnewsjunkie.com/2023/...

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/10/business/us-economy-trump-vs-other-presidents/

https://www.washingtonpost.com...

https://www.courant.com/2025/1...

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/us/politics/john-larson-connecticut-congress-election.html

https://thearc.org/blog/mcmahon-v-new-york/

Phone interview with Marc Dillon.

E-mail interview with Gary Rose.

Phone interview with Bill Kuroski.

Phone interview with Matt Grimes.

Interview with Jimmy Dyer, 1978.

https://www.ctinsider.com/poli...