James Hayes

James Hayes's father worked in steel before the industry's collapse forced a career change; his mother worked in a factory making electric shavers.¹ A partial scholarship through his father's union helped him attend Georgetown.¹ He met his wife, Brenda, while working in Mexico in the early 1990s; she has taught at Pittsburgh's Community Day School.¹

Hayes earned a Georgetown bachelor's in foreign service, a Princeton master's in public affairs, a Chicago MBA and a Case Western doctorate in management.² As a teenager, he led Lancaster County's Teenage Republicans.¹ His professional experience later included executive positions at Motorola, Tyco Fire & Security and Eaton.²

He served as an assistant vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond from October 2009 to August 2015.² He then became a vice president at Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies, a rail equipment and services company, through January 2019.² WESA's October 2026 guide identifies his current job as chief financial officer of Gulf Coast Sand.³

In his candidate responses, Hayes supports expanding domestic energy and manufacturing, encouraging housing construction and reducing regulatory costs.³ He also calls for stronger border security while arguing that Congress must scrutinize prolonged military commitments.³ He again faces Democratic incumbent Summer Lee, who defeated him in 2024.⁴