State Rep. Jim Shapiro has decided not to run for congress in the 4th district. Christine Stuart of CT News Junkie has the details.
Shapiro, who had expressed interested in the fourth district congressional race, said the timing was not right for his family.
Instead, Shapiro will continue to work on issues such as affordable housing and in the state legislature. He said hes optimistic a bill he sponsored to exempt sales tax on construction materials used by private contractors to build affordable housing will pass next year.
In addition Shapiro called up Jim Himes, the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee Chair to tell him the news that there wont be a Democratic primary between the two Jims. Himes announced in April that he will challenge Shays in 2008.
I think Shapiro made the right call this time. But he’s a good guy and I hope we see him run for higher office in the future.
10 responses so far ↓
Himes must of raised a hell of a lot of money. My guess is he releases his total on Monday, going into the new week.
And Shapiro is a good guy. He definitely handled himself well throughout this, and he gets two big thumbs up in my book.
Shapiro is out for personal reasons; I heard Himes is having trouble with money.
[quote comment="15203"]Shapiro is out for personal reasons; I heard Himes is having trouble with money.[/quote]
My understanding was that Shapiro was waiting to see how well Himes did, fundraising-wise, before making his decision.
So his decision made now, right after the end of the quarter would suggest the reverse is true.
I guess we’ll know next week.
Are you kidding me? This Shapiro has no gravitas, or charm whatsoever.
He never will have any chance beyond what he has now.
Watch CT-N archives of Jim Shapiro’s floor speech during the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims debate and then tell us he has no gravitas. It was one of the best statements of the whole session from either party in any debate.
I’ve been a Jim Himes supporter from the beginning, but I certainly think Shapiro has as much charm and gravitas as your average member of Congress. (Of course, some might think that a low bar to set, but I sincerely don’t! I’ve been a C-SPAN junkie even longer than a CT-N one, so I have a lot of appreciation for the characters in Congress.) A Jim/Jim matchup would have been about who was the stronger of two great choices.
Both Jim Shapiro and Jim Himes have demonstrated the kind of mutual respect and decency that we desperately need to see among national leaders today. They just may have been able to show the party how a primary can make a party stronger…but, personally, I’m glad that we can all unite behind Jim Himes early and focus our efforts as Democrats on defeating the Republican in the race, not another Democrat.
Jim is a nice person but that is where it ends. Maura I guess you have never met him. I have to say he is not anyone to excited about; a very bland candidate to be sure. Go with ‘em if you want but I don’t think so.
[quote comment="15221"]Jim is a nice person but that is where it ends. Maura I guess you have never met him. I have to say he is not anyone to excited about; a very bland candidate to be sure. Go with ‘em if you want but I don’t think so.[/quote]
I’ve met Jim Shapiro a few times and I think he’s a bright guy with a lot to offer the Democratic party and CT. Was he the right candidate this time around? No. Could I support him in a future campaign? Absolutely.
Also I can’t speak for Maura but she knows Shapiro too. IIRC we both met him on the same day.
Well, I’m going with Jim Himes.
He’s already a great candidate, and he’s going to be a great Congressman.
But I have indeed met Jim Shapiro (a number of times in fact, since I live here in Stamford) and I think he’s a good guy. He spent a good deal of time charming me and CGG on one of our visits to the LOB.
(CGG, with all your “gushing” about Chris Healy — ha! — feel free to chime in!)
[quote post="717"](CGG, with all your “gushing” about Chris Healy — ha! — feel free to chime in!)[/quote]
I have a feeling that I may never live this down. Thanks Rick Green! And thanks to the CT GOP for promoting my comment on your blog. Twice!
My understanding is that Shapiro used to work for Shays and I know that Lieberman has been one of his big supporters in the past. He doesn’t seem to fit the mold of the Lamont-like Democrats so loved by the current CT Democrats …
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