Chris Shea takes unpopular positions on Iran War, Medicaid

Republican Chris Shea took several unpopular positions during a March interview with WTIC radio, including cheerleading the Iran war and endorsing permanent cuts to Medicaid.

Shea is running for Congress in Connecticut’s 5th District, which includes portions of Hartford and New Haven counties. He will face Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes if he prevails in the Aug. 11 primary.

Shea, a firefighter, is a loyal acolyte of President Donald Trump. He told WTIC that Trump is “our boss” and that House Republicans need to “coalesce behind him.” He added that voters struggling under Trump’s economy simply need to wait longer to see results.

“We were handed a really bad economy from the Biden administration, something that Kamala supported wholeheartedly,” Shea said. “We are seeing improvements, but we’re an impatient bunch, and we need to stand behind those policies and continually point out how we’re headed in the right direction.”

Polling suggests that voters don’t share Shea’s optimism. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that affordability is a top concern for most voters. The same poll found that voters were evenly split on which party would be better at handling the economy after Republicans led on the issue for nearly a decade.

Shea’s loyalty to Trump includes supporting the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the 2025 law that will kick 12 million Americans off Medicaid to fund tax breaks for the wealthy. In the same interview, Shea criticized Hayes for not supporting the law and said he was running for Congress “to fight to make those changes permanent.”

A Politico poll from July found that only half of voters were familiar with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and the majority of those voters said it only helped the wealthy

Shea expressed similar sentiments when asked about Trump’s invasion of Iran.

“What I will say is it’s about time,” Shea said. “This is, you know, while not a declared war, that country has been at war with us for 47-plus years, and we finally have a leader that was willing to take the actions that the military has known we’ve needed to take forever.”

The Silver Bulletin, which aggregates polling from numerous outlets, says that nearly 60% of Americans oppose military action in Iran. As of August, 18 U.S. servicemembers have been killed in the conflict.

Shea’s candidacy has been backed by multiple congressional Republicans, but he has not yet been endorsed by Trump.