Jason McCoy knows it would be an enormous jump to go from running a town of about 46,000 people to joining the World's Most Exclusive Club.
But he says the knowledge he gleaned as mayor of Vernon would help him immensely as a U.S. Senator. The 40-year-old Republican is exploring a run for the seat currently held by Se. Joseph Lieberman.
"I think it's important that people who are elected to the Senate have some type of executive experience,'' McCoy said on a recent afternoon, a a week or so after announcing his exploratory bid. "I have an understanding of what it takes to manage a government.''
So far only one other Republican, attorney and military veteran Brian K. Hill, has officially entered the race. The party's 2010 Senate nominee, Linda McMahon, has said she will decide soon whether to launch another bid. Former Congressman Chris Shays and former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker are also contemplating running for the Republican nomination.
McCoy, a married father of three, is one of the GOP's "Twitter Mayors." Like Danbury's Mark Boughton, he maintains an active presence on the social network. He also has deep roots in Vernon; his grandfather was mayor of Rockville for eight years, and McCoy himself ran three times for state representative (he was defeated each time.)
Vernon is a mid-sized suburban town with Rockville, a small city, at its core. It is, says McCoy, a microcosm of Connecticut. He is just finishing up four years as the community's mayor, a post that pays $20,000 annually. He announced last month that he would not seek reelection and will instead, focus on his exploratory Senate bid.
McCoy is a trial lawyer by profession. He described his political philosophy as fiscally conservative with a libertarian streak. When it comes to taxes and spending, he says he believes "you have to get it done with what you have.''
That's a philosophy he says employed as Vernon's mayor. During his tenure, he says he kept taxes low, completed bridge reconstructions and other public works projects and presided over a decrease in the crime rate. But McCoy's also been criticized by Democrats for appointing a public works director that they say has close ties to him.
McCoy's relative youth -- especially for the U.S. Senate -- raises the question of whether he might want to wait a bit. "You can always wait your turn,'' he said, adding that he has received "a lot of support and encouragement" since announcing his exploratory bid.
He said he intends to decide by the end of the month whether to enter the race.