James Hayes (Pennsylvania)

James Hayes

Republican Party

Candidate, U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12

Elections and appointments

Next election

November 3, 2026

Education

Bachelor's

Georgetown University, 1983

Graduate

University of Chicago, 1989

Personal

Birthplace

Lancaster, Pa.

Religion

Roman Catholic

Profession

Businessman

Contact

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

James Hayes (Republican Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.^[source]

Biography

James Hayes was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He earned a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in 1983, a graduate degree from Princeton University in 1985, and a graduate degree from the University of Chicago in 1989. Hayes' career experience includes working with the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and as a businessman.

Elections

2026

See also: Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District election, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12

Adam Forgie and James Hayes are running in the general election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Adam Forgie (D)
		James Hayes (R)

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
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Endorsements

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2024

See also: Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District election, 2024

Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District election, 2024 (April 23 Democratic primary)

Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District election, 2024 (April 23 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12

Incumbent Summer Lee defeated James Hayes in the general election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Summer Lee (D)	56.2	234,802
		James Hayes (R)	43.5	181,426
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	1,280

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 417,508
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12

Incumbent Summer Lee defeated Bhavini Patel in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12 on April 23, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Summer Lee	60.4	64,594
		Bhavini Patel	39.2	41,902
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	415

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 106,911
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Laurie MacDonald (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12

James Hayes defeated Paul Bryant in the Republican primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12 on April 23, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		James Hayes	98.5	34,759
		Paul Bryant (Write-in)	0.0	0
		Other/Write-in votes	1.5	543

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 35,302
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Laurie MacDonald (R)

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Hayes in this election.

Pledges

Hayes signed the following pledges.

• U.S. Term Limits

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

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2024

James Hayes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hayes' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

James Hayes is a successful businessman and economist. He knows that the government is here to serve the people -- not the other way around. After attending Georgetown University, he went on to earn advanced degrees in economics, finance and accounting and business administration from Princeton, the University of Chicago and Case Western, respectively. In addition to his experience in industry and finance, Dr. Hayes also spent six years working for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. He will support ending the overregulation that is costing our region valuable jobs and causing industry to flee. James supports our law enforcement and will work to ensure they have the tools they need to keep our communities safe. He supports American values and fair treatment for all Americans regardless of race, religion or national origin. He supports Israel and its right to defend itself, opposes excessive government spending and will work to restore balance, accountability and civility to our government.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• We must support industries that create jobs and economic vitality while remaining faithful stewards of the environment.
• Public safety is paramount to the success of any viable community and it must be vigorously safeguarded.
• Children should not be condemned to a poor education because of their zip code and we must implement school choice to provide the incentives to improve outcomes across the educational spectrum.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Economic growth and energy independence

Border security
Access to quality education
Public safety and support of law enforcement

Development programs and activity for young people

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Great power competition with China

Achieving energy independence again
Restoring pride in American values
Creating jobs and a vibrant economy

Ensuring a strong legacy for future generations

What are your thoughts on term limits?

I have signed the U.S. Term Limits Amendment Pledge of the U.S. Term Limits organization.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign website

Hayes’s campaign website stated the following:

“	Economic Development James Hayes knows economics, he knows business, and he know that the economy is here to serve the people – not the other way around. That’s why he supports an end to the kinds of overregulation that has cost our region good-paying, union jobs. He’ll confront the anti-job radicals in Congress that have worked to shut down our manufacturing plants and end family sustaining jobs. Crime After his own life was upended by the death of his son, James Hayes made it his mission to make certain other families don’t face the same agony. That’s why he supports law enforcement, won’t tie the hands of our public safety workers, and he’ll work to make certain that violent criminals end up where they belong: prison. Hayes will take on and defeat the “squad” members in DC who want to defund the police. Values As a young, Black man, James Hayes knew what racism was and that understanding shaped him into someone who appreciates tolerance, acceptance, and the rights of the underdog. That’s why he believes in democracy – and he won’t walk away from our ally, Israel. He knows that a weakened America abroad becomes a less-safe America at home. He’ll support American values and fair treatment for all Americans regardless of race, religion or national origin.	”
—James Hayes’s campaign website (2024)

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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James Hayes campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2026*	U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12	Candidacy Declared general	$3,410	$416
2024*	U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12	Lost general	$136,245	$135,559
Grand total			$139,655	$135,975
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also

2026 Elections

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Footnotes

[show]

Pennsylvania's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

John Fetterman (D)

David McCormick (R)

Representatives

District 1

Brian Fitzpatrick (R)

District 2

Brendan Boyle (D)

District 3

Dwight Evans (D)

District 4

Madeleine Dean (D)

District 5

Mary Scanlon (D)

District 6

Chrissy Houlahan (D)

District 7

Ryan Mackenzie (R)

District 8

Rob Bresnahan (R)

District 9

Dan Meuser (R)

District 10

Scott Perry (R)

District 11

Lloyd Smucker (R)

District 12

Summer Lee (D)

District 13

John Joyce (R)

District 14

Guy Reschenthaler (R)

District 15

Glenn Thompson (R)

District 16

Mike Kelly (R)

District 17

Chris Deluzio (D)

Republican Party (11)

Democratic Party (8)