Chris Shays
Chris Shays
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Connecticut’s 4th district
In office
August 18, 1987 – January 3, 2009
Preceded by
Stewart McKinney
Succeeded by
Jim Himes
Born
October 18, 1945
(1945-10-18)
Stamford, Connecticut
Political party Republican
Spouse
Betsi DeRaismes Shays
Children
Jeramy Alice Shays
Residence
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Alma mater
Principia College, New York
University
Occupation
elected public official
Religion
Christian Science[1]
Christopher H. Shays (born October 18,
1945) is an American politician. He was a Re-
publican member of the United States House
of Representatives, representing the 4th Dis-
trict of Connecticut.
Shays was the only Republican congress-
man from New England elected to the 110th
United States Congress in the 2006 midterm
elections. His loss to Jim Himes in the 2008
election makes New England’s House delega-
tion entirely Democratic in the 111th Con-
gress. He was the most senior member of
House of Representatives to be defeated in
the 2008 election.
On May 12th, 2009, Shays was elected to
the Board of Directors for the CIT Group, a
New
Jersey based commercial
finance
company.
Background
Born in Stamford, Connecticut, Shays grew
up in Darien, attended the Christian Science
Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, and re-
ceived an MBA and MPA from New York
University. He lives in the Black Rock section
of Bridgeport, Connecticut.[2] Shays is a
Christian Scientist;
in September 2006,
Shays said in an interview that he was ques-
tioning his faith.[3][4]
Shays married the former Betsi DeRa-
ismes in 1968. They served together in the
Peace Corps in Fiji from 1968 to 1970. They
have one daughter. Based partly on this ser-
vice, Shays’ Congressional successor Demo-
crat Jim Himes recommended to & World Re-
port says that analysis of Shays’ voting re-
cord reveals that he is a moderate, having
voted historically more often with liberals
than with conservatives, although it notes he
voted with Congressional Republicans 80% of
the time in 2002.[5] Sha