Simmons Won’t Rule Out Run for Former House Seat

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: Former Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn., was an early entrant into the race to replace Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and has been campaigning all-out for the Republican Senate nomination. But buzz has been growing in Connecticut and beyond that Simmons may instead choose what might be an easier path back to Washington, by running again for the House seat he lost in 2006.  In an appearance on ABC’s “Top Line” today, Simmons said repeatedly that he’s a “very competitive candidate for the Senate,” but wouldn’t rule out the possibility of running for the House instead.
Here’s that portion of the exchange: ABC News: “Any thoughts of going back to try to run for the House again? You lost one of the closest races in the country in 2006…” Simmons: “I ran in 2006 serving in the most Democratic district in America held by a Republican, I lost by 83 votes. Since then, I’ve been the business advocate of the state of Connecticut and by the way, I was Barry Goldwater’s chief of staff for four years, then worked for John Chafee of Rhode Island. So I think I’m a very competitive candidate for the Senate.” ABC: “Why not run for House again though?” Simmons: “I think I’m a very competitive candidate for the Senate.” ABC: “Let me just try one more crack at this: Is there any chance — do you completely rule out the possibility of switching and running for the House instead?” Simmons: “I have spent 100 percent of my time and energy over the last year raising money and generating endorsements to run for the US Senate.” After the interview, a Simmons spokesman, Raj Shah, told ABC News: “Rob Simmons is a candidate for United States Senate, and only the United States Senate. He will not run for any other office — period.” Simmons is locked in a tight primary battle against Linda McMahon, the co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment, and is facing a major financial disadvantage in that campaign. McMahon has already spent some $6 million on her campaign, with the possibility of many millions more; Simmons, meanwhile,  raised just $630,000 in the fourth quarter of 2009.  The race has also grown more difficult for any Republican since Dodd announced his retirement. Democrats have coalesced behind state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who was shown topping Simmons by 35 points — and McMahon by 41 points — in a Quinnipiac University poll released last month. Simmons said he’s not concerned about that gap: “We have an attorney general here in the state of Connecticut who is being polled on his performance as attorney general, without anybody essentially calling him or running against him,” he said. “And he has refused to take a position on TARP, he has refused to take a position on the stimulus package, he refused to take a position on civilian trials for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York City. So as long as he refuses to take a position, he can sustain some of those numbers. But we’re calling him on it every day, and as soon as he begins taking positions he’s going to come down.” “Because, you see, it’s not just Chris Dodd and his personal issues that were a problem, it’s the Democrat agenda coming out of Washington, DC, that has people upset. And that’s why we have upsets in New Jersey, upsets in Virginia, and a huge upset in Massachusetts.” If Simmons were to run again for the House, it would set up a re-match in Connecticut’s 2nd Congressional District with Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., who beat Simmons in 2006 by 83 votes, out of more than 240,000 cast.