Shays: Let's get the country 'back on track'

Hartford - Former Congressman Christopher Shays chose the historic setting of the Old State House on Wednesday to formally launch his campaign to return to Washington as a U.S. Senator.

Shays, a Republican, told a room of about 200 supporters that he is running to get the country "back on track" from record budget deficits and irresponsible and selfish leadership.

"We need to elect a United States senator who possesses the courage, the record and the experience to get things done now," said Shays, 66, who announced his candidacy late last summer.

He is one of 11 candidates who have filed paperwork for election to the seat of retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn. Shays is going head-to-head against former wrestling executive Linda McMahon for the Republican nomination. The primary is scheduled for Aug. 14.

The leading Democrats in the field are U.S. Rep. Christopher Murphy of the 5th District, former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz and state Rep. William Tong of Stamford.

Shays served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987 until 2009, losing his 4th District seat in the 2008 election to Greenwich Democrat Jim Himes.

Addressing supporters Wednesday, Shays described himself as an experienced and independent-minded leader who will be "ready on day one" for the Senate. He pledged, if elected, to repeal the national health care law and sponsor legislation to balance the national budget during his six-year term. He said he supports legislation for significant reinvestment in the country's roads, rails, seaports and electric grid infrastructure.

He made an allusion to Murphy in his speech, asserting that his leading Democratic opponent in the race "walks lockstep with Nancy Pelosi and the misguided Obama agenda."

And he said that candidates for office should be elected, "not anointed." He later explained, "You can't be anointed with money, you can't be anointed just because you served in office, you have to prove yourself."

Shays did not directly mention McMahon until a reporter asked how much money he thinks he must raise to win.

McMahon burned through $50 million of her own fortune during her unsuccessful 2010 Senate campaign against Democrat Richard Blumenthal.

"It doesn't take the kind of money that some people think it takes," Shays said. "And I will just say to you that if you spend $50 million so recklessly, why would anyone think that you'll spend their money in any other way?"

The McMahon campaign issued a statement welcoming Shays to the race.

"In 2012, we need to elect people committed to changing not only the negative political culture, but the ineffective way Washington does business. Linda comes from the business world. She has known failure and success and will take a different perspective to Washington - a perspective desperately needed."

Former Congressman Rob Simmons of Stonington was on hand Wednesday to cheer his one-time congressional colleague.

Simmons, who finished a distant second to McMahon in the 2010 GOP primary, said he believes Shays has a good shot at beating the WWE doyenne, despite her wealth advantage. He noted how the state's former attorney general beat McMahon by 12 percentage points after raising about $6 million.

"Dick Blumenthal had it right, this is an election - not an auction." Simmons said. "The people of Connecticut are not selling their Senate seat to somebody with a lot of money, and that shows the character of the people of Connecticut."

Shays and his wife, Betsi, sold their Bridgeport home after his re-election loss and moved to Maryland.

In 2009, he was appointed by then-House Minority Leader John Boehner as co-chairman of the federal Commission on Wartime Contracting, which studied contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bipartisan commission issued its final report in August.

Shays bought a condominium in Bridgeport in 2010 when considering a run for governor. He still maintains a house in the resort town of St. Michaels, Md., his campaign staff said.

Betsi Shays introduced her husband at Wednesday's campaign launch with a vivid account of his public service career, recalling his 18-hour days spent campaigning across Stamford by bicycle in 1974, when he won his race for the state House of Representatives.

He won a special congressional election in 1987 following the death of U.S. Rep. Stewart McKinney.

Connecticut has not elected a Republican senator since Lowell P. Weicker, who lost to Lieberman in 1988, before his term as governor.

j.reindl@theday.com