Hayes Takes Apart Romano Extremism Claim.

U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes is not having it. The Fifth CD Democratic freshman is not taking any nonsense from Whiskey Patriot and Connecticut GOP party chairman J.R. Romano.

Romano is quoted in a Hearst papers article on the congressional candidacy of Republican Ryan Meehan, a recent entry into the race to challenge Jahana. Romano, who has spent time on the right-wing fringe and seemed to enjoy it, told Hearst “I think there are a lot of Republicans who recognize that Jahana Hayes is part of the most extreme wing of the Democratic party in Congress…I think that there are many people in the district who feel that the direction that this extreme wing wants to go in is not the right direction.”

Hayes responded in a Facebook post, writing, “I will simply say, look at my voting records which is anything but extreme. I know my constituents see through nonsense like this and care more about the work I’ve done. While the GOP is spending all their time focusing on me, I will be spending my time working on behalf [of] my constituents.”

“If they want this seat-they have to take it!!!” Hayes concludes.

Republican candidates hoping to meet Hayes in the general election include Meehan, who recently moved from Greenwich to Litchfield; David X. Sullivan, a retired assistant U.S. attorney from New Fairfield, Ruben Rodriguez, who works for the City of New Britain; and Robert Hyde, a Simsbury Republican with a history of making crude remarks.