Chai Campaign Trick Or Treats For Votes

Fresh off of a campaign trip to the skies, third-party Congressional candidate Amy Chai is now channeling the Halloween spirit in her bid for voters’ attention — with the help of a pair of handcuffs and two sharp-toothed smiling ghouls.

That’s the latest twist in Chai’s ongoing longshot campaign to replace U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro as New Haven’s next Congressperson. 

Chai is running as an Independent Party candidate against DeLauro, who is the chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee and who is running as a Democrat for a 17th two-year term in office. Also in the race are Republican candidate Lesley DeNardis and Green candidate Justin Paglino.

Chai, a 58-year-old homeschooling advocate and a doctor specializing in addiction treatment, is no stranger to campaign theatrics to try to draw attention to her bid for office. Earlier this month, she hired a plane to fly a banner over downtown New Haven to get out this crowded all-caps message: ​“RESIGN ROSA 32 YRS KIDS CAN’T READ VOTE CHAI!”

Lately, Chai has ramped up her campaign’s Twitter presence to keep her critiques coming of the long-time incumbent Congresswoman.

On Monday at 9:09 p.m., Chai published on Twitter a 32-second video that shows her holding aloft a pair of handcuffs and standing alongside two smiling fanged creatures. Above her head is written in a play-scary script: ​“HAPPY HALLOWEEN WITH ​‘NAUGHTY ROSA.’ ”

“For Halloween this year, I’m going as ​‘Naughty Rosa DeLauro,’ ” Chai says to the camera. Why is Rosa ​“naughty?”

“She only shows up for campaign stops and photo ops,” Chai claims. She says her opponent is ​“out of touch” with the state of Connecticut.

Click on the embedded video above to watch Chai’s Halloween take in full.

Earlier this week, meanwhile, DeLauro spent the morning at a Wooster Square daycare center, visiting and talking with teachers and advocates about the staffing crisis in the early education industry and about what state and federal government can do to help that critical sector of the economy survive.