Former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT) is set to announce today that he is dropping out of the Republican Senate primary, the Hartford Courant reports, making way for former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon in the wake of her endorsement by the state party convention this past weekend.
Simmons began the race for the GOP nomination as the clear frontrunner in opinion polling, but over time he fell behind McMahon and her personal spending on the race — she has said she could spend as much as $50 million over the course of the race.
Simmons was first elected to the House in 2000, defeating a Democratic incumbent. He was defeated by in 2006 by Democrat Joe Courtney, by the paper-thin margin of just 83 votes out of 242,000 cast.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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