Richard Blumenthal preserves Connecticut Senate seat for Democrats

Connecticut Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal prevailed Tuesday in a race to serve in the U.S. Senate, safeguarding a Democratic seat vacated by Christopher Dodd.

Blumenthal fended off political newcomer Linda McMahon, a Republican who spent about $50 million of her own money on the campaign but couldn’t convince voters, particularly women, that she could translate her business skills outside the world of professional wrestling entertainment in which she made her fortune.

In one of the odder episodes in moderate Connecticut’s political history, the race pitted candidates from wildly varying backgrounds. McMahon, in the early days of building World Wrestling Entertainment into a billion-dollar brand, was not above getting the ring herself, while Blumenthal -- a respected if not staid career politician -- was caught a few times, after years of honestly portraying his military service, claiming he was in Vietnam during the war when he actually served stateside in the Marine Reserve.

Initially, Blumenthal focused his campaign on his record of suing industry giants who took advantage of consumers, but when the race got tight in late September, he turned his attacks on McMahon’s leadership of the WWE and its culture, playing up the bloodlust and misogyny.

McMahon defended her leadership of the WWE and of an industry she described as “scripted entertainment.”