The race for Congress in lower Fairfield County is getting increasing national attention.
The National Journal now calls it one of the five bellwether races to watch. The reason is that U.S. Rep. Jim Himes of Greenwich is a first-term Democrat who won a narrowly close race in a district that has been led by the Republicans for decades.
Before Himes upset U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays in 2008, Shays held the seat for 21 years. Before Shays won a special election in the hot summer of 1987, the seat had been held for 17 years by U.S. Rep. Stewart McKinney. Before McKinney, the district was led by a young Greenwich politician named Lowell P. Weicker, Jr.
Himes benefitted from a huge outpouring of support from Bridgeport Democrats for candidate Barack Obama in the 2008 race as Obama soundly defeated Republican John McCain in numerous towns in lower Fairfield County. Obama is not on the ballot this year as Himes is facing Republican state senator Dan Debicella of Shelton.
Shays had two close races against a solid candidate, Diane Farrell of Westport, in 2004 and 2006 before he was finally toppled by Himes in 2008.
Besides being on the National Journal's radar screen, the race was also recently mentioned on the CNN Top 100 list of the most vulnerable races in the U.S. House of Representatives.