Jobs, McMahon's WWE, Shays' Record Dominate U.S. Senate Debate

STORRS ? Republican U.S. Senate candidate Christopher Shays hit hard against GOP frontrunner Linda McMahon at a debate Thursday afternoon, criticizing her professional wrestling ties, her past donations to Democrats, and her willingness to spend enormous amounts of her own money in her quest to win a Senate seat.

McMahon, the co-founder and former CEO of WWE, largely ignored Shays' attacks. While she repeatedly said she was proud of her record building the WWE entertainment empire, McMahon hewed close to a script that focused almost exclusively on jobs and her ideas about righting the U.S. economy.

"I am proud of the jobs I have created here in Connecticut and I am proud of the millions of dollars we have put in to the economy of our state,'' she said. "But let me just assure you...we have big issues to talk about ... issues about people being out of work ... health care, Social Security ... these are the issues of the day that ... the voters of Connecticut are concerned about.''

Shays contrasted his 21 years in Congress ? he represented the state's 4th District before losing to Democrat Jim Himes in 2008 ? with McMahon's experience running a wrestling company. He mocked McMahon's record as a job creator: "Hugh Hefner is a job creator. I don't want him being there and I don't want Linda McMahon being there."

Thursday's meeting at the University of Connecticut, sponsored by Fox CT and The Courant, was the first one-on-one debate between Shays and McMahon and their first formal meeting since the Republican convention in mid-May. McMahon won the backing of delegates at the convention, but Shays met the threshold to qualify for an Aug. 14 primary.

McMahon, a multimillionaire who plowed $50 million of her own money into her losing 2010 effort to win a seat in the Senate, is already running television ads and, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released last week, leads Shays by 29 points.

ok state kurt budke regis philbin regis and kelly reno fire regis philbin last show regis philbin last show