McMahon wins GOP nod for Senate

Hartford - Republican Linda McMahon wrested her party's endorsement for the U.S. Senate nomination from rival Rob Simmons Friday night, using an aggressive floor effort to switch enough delegates on the convention floor to end the contest in a single round of voting.

"We are rebuilding and re-energizing the Republican Party in Connecticut," McMahon told delegates after the final tally, which gave her 737 delegates to Simmons' 632.

The nomination win was stunning even by the meteoric standards of the McMahon campaign, which has rocketed its candidate from political obscurity to a place in the state's most closely-watched election in just nine months powered by $16 million McMahon made running World Wrestling Entertainment.

It also dealt a major blow to what once seemed a perfect opportunity for Simmons. The former three-term congressman from Stonington raced out to an early lead in the Republican contest to take on Sen. Chris Dodd, and later his Democratic successor on the ticket, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

But Simmons could do nothing to stem the onslaught of McMahon, who bombarded the state with a multifaceted advertising campaign and structured her candidacy as that of an outsider in a year marked by populism and dissatisfaction with political veterans.

Simmons easily won enough delegate support to earn the right to force an Aug. 8 primary, even though he had said repeatedly he would drop out if Republican delegates did not award him the party's endorsement.

In a brief statement to reporters after the convention ended, Simmons confirmed that he would stay in the race.

"I believe there is a lot of time left in this campaign, and I have sufficient funds to make a compelling case to voters before the primary," Simmons said, "and that is what is expected by my family, my friends, my neighbors and my supporters, all of whom have asked me to stay in this race.

"I believe the best thing I can do to help the Republican Party in November is to give them another choice," Simmons added, noting that Schiff also had intended to force a primary through a petition drive. "And that is why I intend to stay in this race."

Working the crowd

Out on the convention floor, McMahon noted that Democrats across town had nominated Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to seek the Senate seat. At the mention of Blumenthal, the crowd booed, and McMahon, surrounded by her family, smiled.

"I venture we're going to lay the smackdown on him come November," she said.

As the vote-switching ended just before 11 p.m. Friday, McMahon had won more than 50 percent, crossing that margin as supporters of Schiff - along with many delegates who had initially voted for Simmons - threw their votes to her.

The candidate worked the floor, calling out at one point, "Keep those switches coming!"

Staffers of the McMahon campaign pumped their fists and shouted with the announcement of each vote switched from another candidate to McMahon's column.

Standing near the Stonington delegation, Simmons' wife, Heidi, and son, Robert, watched anxiously. Heidi Simmons eventually left the convention hall. As the pace of votes slid more dramatically toward McMahon, a Simmons campaign worker said he was in a campaign staff room, off the convention floor.

As the voting ended, McMahon stood surrounded by cameras and reporters in a corner of the floor, with her family gathered around her. Among those clustered with McMahon were her husband, Vince, and their two children with their spouses. Standing a few inches taller than the crowd was Stephanie McMahon's husband, the WWE wrestler Triple H.

Moments later, as the crowd of media shifted with the family, McMahon exchanged a hug with David Cappiello, a former state senator from Danbury who has managed the campaign and was sniffing back tears while awaiting the returns.

After the voting concluded, Republican Party Chairman Chris Healy said the night was "certainly the most dramatic Senate nominating convention in living memory."

"You'd have to check the record books," he said, "but I don't think there is a parallel."

"A tremendous accomplishment by her," Healy added, and "a great campaign by Simmons. If he wants to continue it, obviously he has support here."

Separate paths

Throughout the evening, workers from the Simmons and McMahon campaigns were nervously counting delegate votes in the third-floor hall of the Connecticut Convention Center, with the two campaigns seemingly very close and Schiff running a distant third.

The voting followed nominating and seconding speeches for all three candidates and a fourth, Vinny Foras, along with three-minute biographical videos that highlighted the backgrounds of the candidates.

For McMahon, who has championed her business experience at the WWE and her status as a political neophyte in a year of populist anti-incumbent fervor, the focus was the candidate's early financial struggles and her determination to bring business acumen to the Senate.

McMahon said delegates had not expressed much interest in questions about the content of WWE's programming, or the steroid investigations that have dogged the company.

"You know what? I've not really been getting so much of those kinds of questions because I think we've dealt with them early on in the campaign," McMahon said in roving remarks, as reporters tried to keep pace with her and at least one photographer, walking backward, plowed into the back of an unsuspecting delegate.

"If there is concern, but I can tell you people in Connecticut are concerned about jobs, they're concerned about taxes, they're concerned about our debt, they're concerned about immigration," McMahon said. "I don't hear so much about the soap opera of WWE."

But some delegates pledged to Simmons said they have strong concerns about McMahon and the wrestling company. One of those delegates was Cathy Cook, a former state senator from Stonington, who was wearing a red jacket - "red for Rob," she said.

Simmons focused heavily on his military experience, which includes two 20-month tours in Vietnam, one with the U.S. Army and the second with the Central Intelligence Agency. Simmons, a state legislator from Stonington for 10 years, eventually served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before losing in 2006.

Asked about McMahon, Cook jabbed an index finger into the upper arm of a reporter, and raised the issue of "Eugene," a now-discontinued WWE character who suffered from mental disabilities and was beaten and mocked in wrestling skits.

"I have a 32-year-old mentally retarded son, and it's not entertainment to bang him around a ring and make fun of him," Cook said. "She should never have made money on that."

Keeping close tabs

A few hours later, the party convened in the broad upper hall of the Connecticut Convention Center, where delegates mingled on the deep, red carpet, squeezing through rows of chairs piled high with swag from candidates: paper "Linda" signs, red Simmons paraphernalia, small hand-held bells and bumper stickers reading "Schiff happens."

As the first round of voting rolled through the towns of the 3rd Congressional District, Simmons' wife, Heidi, paced near the front doors of the hall, a cell phone at her ear.

Shortly before 10 p.m., the McMahon campaign was estimating it held a lead of roughly 170 delegates, but with the 2nd District - Simmons' old stomping grounds as a congressman - still to vote.

Down the hall, McMahon's very pregnant daughter, Stephanie, stood outside the war room being used by the family and their friends. The mood inside was one of excitement, the younger McMahon said.

"It's an incredibly proud moment for my whole family," Stephanie McMahon said.

The criticism of WWE, by Republicans and Democrats alike, is something the McMahons take in stride, the candidate's daughter said.

"It's quite frankly nothing we haven't been through before," she said.

t.mann@theday.com