Still On The Stump
by Christine Stuart | Jul 2, 2010 8:21am
(2) Comments | Commenting has expired
Posted to: Election 2010
He’s not campaigning for himself, but he’s still on the stump.
Former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons garnered enough delegate support at the Republican convention to primary former WWE CEO Linda McMahon, but decided to curtail his U. S. Senate campaign and leave his name on the ballot.
“Hi, I’m Rob Simmons and I’m not running for anything,” Simmons said Wednesday as he introduced himself at a fundraiser for Doug Dubitsky, one of three Republicans vying for Simmons’ old Second District seat.
Simmons said his appearance at Dubitsky’s fundraiser shouldn’t be seen as an endorsement, since he was at a fundraiser for Daria Novak the previous evening and will appear with Janet Peckinpaugh later this month.
“I’m trying to help all of them,” Simmons said.
“I ran against Joe Courtney twice. I beat him the first time by 8 points and he beat me the second time by 83 votes,” Simmons said in a brief speech at Georgina‘s Restaurant in Bolton.
Looking a little tanner than normal, Simmons said he has kept one of his campaign staffers on part-time to help him keep track of all the events he plans to attend in support of Republican candidates. But he‘s not campaigning. He said he released his staff and a number of them are already working on other campaigns.
Since curtailing his campaign in May, Simmons said he has been spending more time in the yard and it might be helping him in the polls.
Since he dropped out of the race, Simmons has cut McMahon’s lead in the Quinnipiac poll from 26 to 16 points. McMahon still beats him 45 to 29 percent in a head to head match up but his numbers inched up from 23 percent to 29 percent since he dropped out of the race.
The decision to end his campaign and leave his name on the ballot has been confusing to some Republicans, so Vernon Republican Town Chairman Hal Cummings put Simmons on the spot Wednesday and asked him to explain it to a room of about 50 Dubitsky supporters.
Click on the video to watch what how he answered the question.
posted by: eastrivertype | July 2, 2010 2:33pm
Simmons is doing the right thing. The objective is to elect Republicans. If McMahons unfavorables continue to rise, why shouldn’t Republicans have the chance to vote for Simmons in the primary? 46% of the delegates supported him. I like that he is not attacking McMahon. She has to prove that she can win against the Democrats who haven’t even started to rip her to pieces yet. If she can’t improve, Simmons remains a viable option. Lots of us will continue to watch Rob Simmons who may not be able to garner the loyalty of the rocket scientists of the Republican hierarchy, but he definitely would be the strongest candidate against Dick Blumenthal. Unfortunately Republican leadership doesn’t seem to get it that the battle will be for the Independents. Linda McMahon sitting out there on the right has a big problem with them.