Himes gets boost from national Democrats
(from Greenwich Time, Saturday, March 15, 2008)
Jim Himes bleeds Harvard crimson, but the Democratic congressional hopeful from Greenwich has no trouble being named a Red to Blue candidate by national party leaders.
Thirteen challengers in targeted congressional races across the country were named Red to Blue candidates this week by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, including the Harvard-graduate Himes.
The caucus-building organization has pledged to help the candidates with fundraising and other needs.
"Obviously, that's a nice boost for the campaign. More than anything else, it's kind of like the Good Housekeeping seal of approval," said Himes, a former investment banker who is the head of a New York City housing nonprofit agency.
Himes is looking to challenge longtime GOP incumbent Christopher Shays this fall in the 4th District, which includes most of Fairfield County and is the last red congressional district in a sea of blue districts throughout New England.
A marked man in his previous two races against Diane Farrell, Shays was the lone Republican to survive a Democratic sweep of the region in 2006.
Michael Sohn, Shays' campaign manager, downplayed the significance of Himes making the list.
"Farrell was on their Red to Blue list," Sohn said. "The DCCC is coming after Chris with all the effort that they can muster. It's no different than they did during the last two races. We're a targeted race and always will be."
Party leaders at the DCCC said Himes, who is chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, has captured their attention with his campaign.
"Jim Himes has shown that he has the local support, the resources and the momentum to win this race in November and make a real difference in Congress," said U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the DCCC chairman. "The Red to Blue program will help him grow his resources to get his positive message of changing the direction of our country out to voters."
In 2006, the DCCC named 56 candidates to the Red to Blue list, helping them to raise $404,000 on average. In addition to Farrell, Chris Murphy and Joe Courtney, both of whom unseated GOP congressional incumbents in Connecticut, were on the list. The DCCC is planning to add more candidates to the current list in the future.
