Greenwich’s McMahon to Run For Senate
With new polling continuing to show incumbent United States Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) vulnerable for re-election next year, Greenwich resident Linda McMahon, CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, has jumped into the race for the Republican nomination to oppose him in 2010.
“I have spent the past 30 years growing what began as a 13-employee small business into a publicly traded, global entertainment company that now provides over 500 jobs here in Connecticut,” Ms. McMahon said in a statement released Wednesday morning. “I understand what it takes to balance a budget, create jobs and grow the economy.
“Washington is out of control, and sadly, Sen. Chris Dodd has lost his way and our trust. I can’t sit by on the sidelines anymore knowing that I have both the experience and the strength to stand up to special interests and bring badly needed change to Washington.”
Ms. McMahon is now one of several Republicans seeking the nomination, including fellow Greenwich resident Thomas Foley, a former ambassador to Ireland under President George W. Bush. Mr. Dodd has been in office since 1981 but is facing one of his toughest re-election battles in 2010. Research 2000 and the progressive Web site Daily Kos released a poll Tuesday showing Mr. Dodd trailing in a hypothetical battle against Rob Simmons, a former congressman who is considered the favorite for the Republican nomination right now. The poll has Mr. Simmons at 46% and Mr. Dodd at 42%, with 12% undecided at this time.
Ms. McMahon was not included in the poll.
Ed Patru, a spokesman for the campaign, said Ms. McMahon will make the economy the centerpiece of her run and that she will be a “formidable” candidate against Mr. Dodd because of her experience building and running a publicly-traded company, including creating jobs and economic growth and working on budgets. Mr. Patru also pointed to Ms. McMahon’s work in the community, including her work on the state Board of Education, which she was appointed to earlier this year.
In Wednesday’s announcement, she spoke to her credentials as a fiscal conservative, saying, “…Government ought to incentivize job creators, and that small businesses need access to capital and credit in order to create jobs.
“She is very disturbed by what she sees as an out-of-control Congress in terms of the dollars being spent right now and the debt that is being created, not just for today, but for future generations,” Mr. Patru told the Post Tuesday before the run was made official. “She’s concerned that the policies of this Congress are doing enormous damage to the economy in the short term and the long term.”
Mr. Patru added that Ms. McMahon would be the best candidate in terms of dealing with anxiety over the economy and stimulating the job market and that “she will not be a typical politician.”
Wednesday’s campaign statement said Ms. McMahon’s campaign will be “largely self-financed,” adding she will not accept Politcial Action Committee contributions or “special interest cash,” and she will limit personal contributions to $100 or less.
Mr. Simmons continues to poll as the favorite. A former Republican congressman for the 43rd district in Connecticut, he was defeated in 2006. In the Research 2000/Daily Kos poll, Mr. Simmons had 38% of the support, far outdistancing state Sen. Sam Caliguri (R-16) who has 7% and Mr. Foley who has 6%. Prospective candidate Peter Schiff, a libertarian financier who served last year on the presidential campaign of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, is polling at only 1%, but there are large undecided numbers. The poll also showed Mr. Dodd defeating Mr. Caliguri, Mr. Schiff and Mr. Foley, but Mr. Foley had the second best numbers — behind Mr. Simmons — against him.
With Ms. McMahon’s decision to run for Senate, her husband, Vince McMahon, current WWE chairman, also assumes CEO duties for the company.