2009 McMahon opened her campaign with a media blitz. She advertised on television across the state. McMahon also hired high-profile campaign staff. Her campaign spokesman, Ed Patru, had worked on
John McCain's 2000 presidential campaign. Her campaign manager, former State Senator David Cappiello, received a salary of roughly $280,000. McMahon ran as an outsider, criticizing the Senate for its connection to
Wall Street and
federal banking bailouts. Her campaign ads emphasized her distance from politics, stressing she was "not a career politician". She criticized the current Senate for passing large bills in a perfunctory manner, particularly the
$800 billion stimulus package. Her first televised political ad, "Perseverance", touted her experience as a business leader, stating, "Thirty years ago, my husband and I started our business. It wasn't always easy but we grew it into a publicly traded company that's creating jobs here in Connecticut today."
YouTube incident In October 2009, Democratic
political operatives used YouTube videos of WWE for political ads. On October 16, Colleen Flanagan, a spokeswoman for
Chris Dodd, posted controversial videos that showed the unsavory side of WWE on
Talking Points Memo, a political news website. She said the programming showed "simulated rape, public sex and necrophilia" and McMahon should not be Senator because she "condones this type of behavior". Hours later, YouTube removed the videos after contact from WWE. WWE had informed YouTube that the material was copyright under US law. The Connecticut Democratic Party filed a complaint with the
Federal Election Commission asking for an investigation into what happened with the controversial videos. The complaint claimed that of the "almost 500,000" videos of WWE on YouTube, the three were removed selectively to help McMahon's campaign.
Republican outsider dropped out of the U.S. Senate race in November 2009, leaving an intense rivalry between Simmons and McMahon. In October 2009, McMahon was viewed as a political outsider in the Republican Party (GOP). She faced competition from
Sam Caligiuri and Rob Simmons, both established politicians among Connecticut Republicans. She lost some credibility among Republicans because of revelations about her voting record and past donations to Democrats, prompting speculation that she would run as an Independent candidate should she lose the Republican Primary. As CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, McMahon donated to Republicans and
Democratic Leadership Council–affiliated Democrats, including Sen.
Joe Lieberman in 2006 and
Rahm Emanuel from the period of 2002 to 2008. McMahon donated $10,000 to the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on September 26, 2006, a contribution that helped
Joe Courtney weeks before his win against Rob Simmons for the Second Congressional District. Since 1980, McMahon contributed twice as much to Republicans as to Democrats—($70,700 to Republicans, $35,100 to Democrats, and $1,000 to independents). , Barack Obama's chief-of-staff, between 2002 and 2008. Connecticut Republican voters were displeased to learn of McMahon's donations to Emanuel, a highly partisan figure who helped orchestrate the Democratic shift in the
House in 2006 and
Barack Obama's
presidential win. McMahon explained to voters that her donations to Emanuel were on behalf of Rahm's brother,
Ari Emanuel, who had represented WWE in
Hollywood since 1992. According to McMahon, in 2002, "He (Ari) called me one day and he said, my brother is running for Congress in Illinois. It happened to be Rahm. I didn't know Rahm." McMahon made more donations over the course of the next several years, including one check she wrote when Rahm Emanuel came to WWE headquarters to meet her. McMahon's spokesperson clarified that McMahon did not know who Rahm Emanuel was in 2002, but was aware of his partisan status in 2006.
Wrestling in the spotlight In November 2009, former wrestler
Superstar Billy Graham became an outspoken critic of McMahon's campaign. He said the McMahons were hypocrites for "toning down" the violence and sexuality in pro wrestling after many years of showing adult themes. He launched Internet videos on WrestleView saying the WWE's
switch to PG was politically motivated: "...they (Linda and Vince) are doing it strictly to get Linda McMahon elected to Senator of Connecticut", he stated in one video. Billy Graham contracted
hepatitis C from another wrestler's blood during his time in WWE and required a life-saving liver transplant as a result. The campaign circulated an apology letter Graham had written to the company in 1996, saying "he has a habit of making false statements when he's not on WWE's payroll". In the letter, Graham had admitted to making unjustified verbal attacks following his termination in 1989. Graham later reached out to apologize to McMahon for his comments, even offering to be a representative for her campaign.
McMahon–Simmons rivalry McMahon and Simmons engaged in negative campaigning in November 2009. In one political mailing, McMahon portrayed Simmons to the
Tea Party movement as a fraud. (Simmons had courted Tea Party conservatives, and even carried a tea bag in his pocket). In December, an article in
The Washington Times suggested that Simmons' appeals to conservatives were insincere, pointing to his past support for "
cap and trade" and "
card check", two hot button issues for the Tea Party. McMahon's campaign savaged this apparent flip-flop, sending mailings to Connecticut voters highlighting the issue. This hurt Simmons' standing among conservatives and labor unions. Simmons focused later advertising on criticizing McMahon and the WWE. Many times, Simmons accused McMahon of trying to "buy the election". In January, he circulated YouTube videos of wrestler
Eugene being humiliated on-screen, claiming the WWE was insensitive to the mentally challenged. The McMahon campaign countered, saying Eugene, rather than being ridiculed, was an inspirational character who ultimately became "a hero". Simmons launched negative ads attacking WWE's history of
steroid abuse, its record of
premature wrestler deaths, and circulated some of WWE's most
politically incorrect segments. By March 2010, the Simmons campaign had gone so negative that some established Connecticut Republicans began to denounce his attacks.
2010 Blumenthal replaces Dodd On January 7, just hours after Chris Dodd announced his retirement, the
Connecticut Democratic Party launched
Richard Blumenthal, the Attorney General, as its new candidate. Blumenthal, who had a job approval rating over 80%, enjoyed near-unanimous support from Democrats and was considered a formidable opponent for any statewide office. Although Connecticut is considered a solid Democratic-voting state, McMahon and Simmons sought to capitalize on the anti-establishment and anti-Democratic tide that had become a factor in the 2010 campaign season. In particular,
Scott Brown's
win in Massachusetts was seen as a good
omen for Republicans nationally, as it showed that a Republican could win in a "deep blue" state. A key factor in Brown's win had been his demand for fiscal responsibility, which McMahon made her centerpiece issue, attacking Simmons for his voting record as U.S. Representative. In new mailings, she pointed to Simmons' D-rating from the
National Taxpayers Union. In March 2010, while Blumenthal continued to lead all Republican contenders by 20–30 points, McMahon took frontrunner status from Simmons. Her rise in the polls was attributed largely to her heavy media presence, as a polling researcher pointed out, "You can't miss her television ads. They're everywhere. She's the only candidate for Senate that's on TV right now." Political research showed that McMahon had gained strong popularity with female voters, social conservatives, and residents in
Fairfield County. McMahon's controversial "tip-off" memo resurfaced, raising new questions regarding her ethical judgment. The 1989 memo asked a WWE executive to "clue in" a company doctor to possible legal action he might face from the Federal government. At the time, the FBI was investigating the doctor for selling steroids to WWF wrestlers, including
Vince McMahon which led to
a court case where Vince was found not guilty. The timing of her memo was suspicious, as the investigation did not become public knowledge until May 27, 1990, the day of the doctor's arrest. When the articles were published, Linda did not respond, but WWE did, telling reporters that McMahon only wanted the doctor "clued in" so he would know why he was fired. WWE said McMahon learned of the investigation through a company lawyer who had heard the Federal prosecutor involved, James West, carelessly talking about the case at a fundraising event. denying ever discussing the case or attending the event in question. Although West and WWE continued to point fingers, McMahon and her campaign did not publicly discuss the story and its ongoing controversy. The news hurt McMahon's public image and, according to her critics, it provided evidence she had tried to "undermine a criminal investigation." An article published in the
Stamford Advocate raised attention to McMahon's voter registration drive at the
University of Connecticut, where college students were to be paid a $5 bonus for each voter they registered as a Republican. The potential
moral hazard in such a program created negative associations to
ACORN's
2008 controversy regarding invalid voter applications. Although the practice was not illegal, the bonus structure was removed from the drive.
The New York Times Vietnam story , left, was the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate. During her campaign, McMahon capitalized on faulty statements he made about his Vietnam service. McMahon focused her attention towards the presumptive Democratic challenger in the few weeks before the convention. On May 12, she launched political TV ads on Blumenthal's apparent
flip-flop on
PAC contributions. On May 17, a story in
The New York Times revealed that Blumenthal had
made false claims about his military service during the
War in Vietnam. On May 19, McMahon said that she played a role in
The New York Times story and confirmed that her campaign helped uncover the facts. Her campaign sent a video of Blumenthal's questionable speech to the newspaper. Days later, McMahon's campaign posted a full version of that speech on YouTube, which showed Blumenthal clearly explaining his "Vietnam era" service early in his speech, clearing the discrepancy. The full version was a godsend for the Blumenthal campaign, and it softened the blow dealt by his later "in Vietnam" gaffe. McMahon's campaign spokesman, Ed Patru, later told reporters that the campaign strategically "put its fingerprints" on the story to impress Republican delegates before the convention. Prior to the Convention, McMahon had urged supporters to register for the Republican primary, suggesting that she would run even if she had not won the Republican nomination. Simmons, the ostensible Party favorite, staked his campaign on the convention and said repeatedly he would not "force a primary" if he lost the convention. However, when Simmons lost many of his pledged delegates to McMahon, his viability was doubted by the media and state GOP. Pundits revealed that Simmons was under pressure to drop out and run for
his former Congressional seat. When Simmons was asked about the possibility, he did not explicitly "rule out" a change in races. Simmons was visibly frustrated by the negative media publicity he received as a result. Simmons then claimed that he had more delegates than McMahon by a wide margin. McMahon heavily outspent Simmons, maintaining a steady lead over both her rivals. Simmons could not fund TV ads after a drop in fundraising. In the weeks prior to the convention, Simmons failed to regain in the polls. • Denotes candidate met the minimum threshold of 15 percent to appear on the primary ballot • 708 delegates were required to win endorsement from the Republican Party Schiff was polling at roughly 10% days before the convention and told many of his pledged delegates at the convention to switch to Simmons "because I didn't think McMahon was playing fair." Schiff told his supporters that McMahon's campaign had about 40 members on the convention floor attempting to garner more support while votes were being cast, breaking convention rules. Simmons was deeply disappointed to lose on the first round of voting. Four days later, on May 25, Simmons reversed himself again, and suspended his campaign, saying he could not compete financially with McMahon's deep pockets. Although Simmons was no longer campaigning, he often disparaged McMahon to the press. He told
The National Review that he did not think McMahon "can win at all". He also said that if she were to ask for his help, he would say he was "preoccupied". Simmons said he did McMahon a favor by stopping his campaign, but he did not endorse her. Many of Simmons' hardcore backers also refused to back McMahon. In late July, Simmons re-entered the race by airing ads on TV reminding Republican primary goers that he was still on the ballot, as well as by participating in debates and editorial board discussions. and suffered from high unfavorability ratings among both Democrats and Republicans. The
Cook Political Report attributed much of the damage in her public image to months of criticism from Simmons and the media. On June 8, McMahon released her own
internal polling to assure Republicans she was competitive with Blumenthal. Nonetheless, negative sentiment towards McMahon fueled some momentum for both Simmons and Schiff. Some Republican voters who had supported Simmons turned to Schiff, who shared their resentment towards McMahon and the convention. Schiff fared poorly in the convention, but collected over 10,000 signatures from Connecticut residents was placing him on the primary ballot. , was established in July 2010. McMahon spent the remainder of June and July attempting to control the wrestling element of her public image, which repeatedly received negative media attention. On June 22, McMahon's campaign gained unwanted attention from a lawsuit filed by
Martha Hart, the wife of deceased wrestler
Owen Hart, in regard to a wrestling DVD featuring her husband. The WWE said her lawsuit was "meritless", nothing more than a "political hit job." McMahon launched TV ads embracing her career in WWE, downplaying negative opinion of wrestling as a form of "soap opera" entertainment. In July 2010, five women from West Hartford attacked her wrestling career, saying WWE encouraged profane and violent treatment of women. The McMahon campaign dismissed their group, Mothers Opposing McMahon, as a group of
Democratic operatives, arguing that their press conference was organized and paid for by the
Connecticut Democratic Party. Nonetheless, McMahon's campaign continued to fend off attacks, such as the
Tom Cole affair and when she pretended to kick
Jim Ross before firing him as part of a WWE storyline.
Primary results McMahon won the Republican nomination on August 10 with 49% of the vote. Her win received a great deal of national attention, plenty of media coverage, and congratulatory calls from national Republicans
Mitt Romney and
John Cornyn. McMahon also received calls from Schiff and Simmons offering their support. McMahon's lack of a majority was derided by critics as a sign that Republicans were not fully satisfied with her candidacy. Simmons said it was possible that Schiff was a spoiler in the campaign,
siphoning off support that could have helped him defeat McMahon. ==General election==