Linda McMahon Comes to Town

Monroe residents Edith and B.J. Harvey and their friend, Dave Luessenhop, went to hear Linda McMahon speak in Norwalk on Thursday, and were so impressed, they showed up the next day at the Blue Colony Diner because they had heard she was coming to in Newtown.

"We decided to come here to show support," B.J. Harvey, 78, said.

With only a few days until the primary, McMahon came to Newtown to campaign with Chris LaRocque, a local Republican who is challenging Democratic incumbent Chris Lyddy for the 106th district state representative seat.

LaRocque, who does not face a primary, said he wanted to take McMahon to Sandy Hook to visit some of the area's small businesses, an area of emphasis in his campaign.

"What I'm hearing here in Newtown is that the amount of spending that is going on at the state level is hurting us," LaRocque said.

McMahon said she was introduced to the community by Newtown resident and Legislative Council member Gary Davis, who is vice president of corporate communications for the World Wrestling Entertainment, the company McMahon and her husband own.

In June, McMahon visited town to attend the Sandy Hook Lobsterfest and she stayed for hours talking to people.

"Newtown is a part of my campaign tour," she said. "I am trying to as much as I can to talk to as many small business, to say 'hello' to as many people as I can. And Newtown  is a place that I've enjoyed coming to."

In the primary, McMahon is running against fellow Republicans Rob Simmons and Peter Schiff for a chance to run against Democrat Richard Blumenthal, the attorney general.

In addition to her race, McMahon said she is committed to campaigning with other Republicans, such as LaRocque, across the state.

"We want to rebuild the party and so I really want to campaign with Republican candidates local and statewide to help rebuild the party," she said. "We want to change the numbers."

Lussenhop, 83, of Newtown, said he was impressed with McMahon, and saw her as someone who could change Washington, D.C.

"She's a breath of fresh air," Lussenhop said. "We're all very concerned about what's going on in Washington…I just think we've got to clean house."

Editor's name: Linda McMahon and her husband founded World Wresting Entertainment. An earlier version of this story had the company name wrong.