Rob Simmons will hold a press conference for this morning in New London to announce he’s leaving the U.S. Senate race, sources said late today.
The former congressman and Vietnam War veteran lost the Republican convention’s endorsement on Friday to former World Wrestling CEO Linda McMahon.
Simmons entered the Senate race in the winter of 2009, when a politically ailing Sen. Christopher Dodd was the preumptive Democratic nominee. Throughout the spring and summer and into the fall, Simmons sat atop public opinion polls.
Then McMahon entered the race in September and began spending millions onf television ads and direct mail.
Throughout the increasingly bitter campaign between Simmons and McMahon, Simmons had said he would abide by the convention’s choice and not force a primary. However on Friday he announced a change of heart and said he would primary McMahon for the party’s nomination after all.
Late Monday, the Simmons campaign sent out a press release alerting reporters to the press conference at the Radisson Hotel in New London, but declined to provide any additional details.
“If that’s the decision he’s made, I know it was a difficult decision,” said state Sen. John Kissel of Enfield, a longtime Simmons supporter. “I’m proud of Rob if he’s come to that conclusion. I don’t have any specific information…it would be right for the party and right for Rob.”
McMahon, a political outsider who has never held elective office, has enormous resources. She said she would spend up to $50 million of her vast fortune on the campaign.