Current Position: Connecticut Senate candidate (since March 2009)
Credit: Rob Simmons for Senate
Why He Matters
During Simmons’ time as a U.S. representative, he often called himself an endangered species. The self-described Rockefeller Republican spent three years in the Army and a decade in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) before serving as a Hill staffer.
In 1986, Simmons launched his career as an elected official as a Connecticut’s lawmaker before he narrowly defeated his opponent to win an incumbent’s U.S. House seat in 2000. The victory earned Simmons the dubious title of the Republican sitting in the most heavily Democratic district in the country. “I have to swim against the tide, but the people of the Second District are independent, like me,” he told the New York Times.
Democrats quickly lined up to knock off Simmons; they poured money into unseating Simmons over the next two election cycles. They succeeded when Simmons was defeated by 84 votes in 2006.
But in March 2009, Simmons threw his hat into the 2010 Senate race, seeking to oust veteran Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), whose popularity was waning after his failed 2008 presidential run and a loan controversy.
But in January 2010, when Dodd announced he would not seek re-election, Simmons' chances to take the seat may have diminished with the entrance into the race of popular Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.
At a Glance
Current Position: Senate Candidate for Connecticut (since March 2009)
Career History: Business Advocate, Connecticut State Government (2007 to 2008); U.S. Representative (2000 to 2007); Representative, Connecticut House (1991 to 2000)
Birthday: Feb. 11, 1943
Hometown: New York, NY
Alma Mater: Haverford College, B.A., 1965; Harvard University, M.P.A., 1979
Spouse: Heidi
Religion: Episcopalian
Office: N/A
Email N/A
Web site N/A
Path to Power
Simmons was born in New York City. Growing up, he saw his grandfather, who edited a newspaper in Oregon, as a role model. Simmons worked at the paper during the summer, an experience that inspired him to enter public service.
Simmons initially planned to become a journalist after graduating from Haverford College in 1965. Instead, he enlisted in the Army so that he could fight in the Vietnam War. He earned two Bronze Stars there.
After three years on active duty, Simmons joined the Central Intelligence Agency as an operations officer in East Asia. He left the CIA in 1979 to attend Harvard, where he earned a master’s of Public Administration from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Simmons moved to Washington shortly after graduation to work for former Sen. John Chafee (R-R.I.). He then became an aide to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence under former Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) in 1981. In the months after the Iran-Contra scandal, Simmons found himself investigating the CIA side, his former employer, leaving him in an uncomfortable position. He left the Hill in 1985.
Public Official
Simmons was elected to the Connecticut General Assembly in 1990 and focused on education and transportation issues. He served there for ten years before launching a campaign to unseat longtime incumbent Sam Gejdenson (D-Conn). Gejdenson had faced a number of close elections, and critics speculate he lost in part because of allegations that he had moved out of the district. Still, the race in the Democratic-leaning district was tight, and Simmons prevailed by only 2,000 votes.
Simmons managed to hang onto his seat for the next two elections. But by 2006, the mood of the country had swung decidedly against the Republican Party. In that election, Joe Courtney (D) attacked Simmons for supporting President George W. Bush’s policies. The race was tight – on election night, Simmons trailed Courtney by 167 votes, a number small enough to trigger an automatic recount. Ultimately, Simmons lost by 84 votes.
Simmons returned to state government, accepting a position as Connecticut’s first business advocate in 2006. In that position, Simmons helped businesses manage their relationship with the state government. Gov. M. Jodi Rell (R) said Simmons was tasked with “cutting through the red tape” to help businesses “navigate the alphabet soup of government.” Simmons left the position in December 2008, when the job was threatened by budget cuts.
2010 Senate Run
In March 2009, Simmons announced his intention to challenge Senate Banking Committee Chairman Dodd in 2010. “The family had a long meeting today and was unanimous that I run,” he told the Associated Press. “So I am running.” A poll released by Quinnipiac University in March 2009 showed Dodd and Simmons locked in a dead heat. Simmons also considered running for governor if Rell stepped down.
The Issues
Simmons sums up his political philosophy simply – he’s fiscally conservative “because it’s your money,” and socially moderate “because it’s your life.”
The three-term House Republican often defied his party’s orthodoxy. In his freshman year, he bucked the party line more than any other Republican newcomer. He supports many abortion rights (though he does not believe women should be able to terminate a pregnancy in the third trimester), and was endorsed for re-election by Planned Parenthood. He also joined Republicans for Environmental Protection, a group that tries to strengthen the GOP stance on conservative issues. The motto is: "conservation is Conservative."
However, Simmons also voted with President George W. Bush on some key issues, including Social Security privatization, tax policy and opposition to gun control. He is also staunchly pro-business. In his role as business advocate, Simmons said he saw himself as a supporter of small businesses and a liaison who would try to help owners “cut through the bureaucracy of state regulations.”
Democrats will likely try to link Simmons to Bush’s economic policies, which they say caused the financial crisis. The strategy has been tried before. “It’s true,” a narrator said in a 2004 advertisement against Simmons. “Rob Simmons is George Bush’s No. 1 supporter in Connecticut.
War on Terror
Simmons tells colleagues the war on terror began for him in 1983, when a close friend was killed when a suicide bomber blew up a U.S. embassy in Beirut.
While in Congress, he called for caution in pursuing the Iraq war and supported Democratic legislation that would have required President George W. Bush to work with the United Nations in the run-up to the invasion. In 2004, Simmons called on Iraqis to play a bigger role in their own national security, a move that would allow Americans to begin reducing their troop presence.
Intelligence
Simmons’ CIA tenure gave him instant credibility as a congressional leader in counter-terrorism strategies. “The minute he says ‘When I was in the CIA,’ all ears are focused on what’s the next thing he’s going to say,” Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) told Congressional Quarterly.
During his years in Congress, Simmons was an advocate for funding intelligence agencies. He successfully lobbied for legislation that required the CIA to pay for full liability insurance for its agents. “We need to treat them like heroes instead of scoundrels,” he told National Journal.
While in Congress, Simmons chaired the Committee on Homeland Security’s subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment. There, he lobbied to provide state and local governments more information on terrorist threats and intelligence information. He also successfully fought to keep New London’s submarine base open.
The Network
Simmons was supported by several high-profile Republicans during his many tight House races. 2008 GOP nominee Sen.
John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former Sen.
Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) both attended fundraisers during 2004, praising Simmons as willing to break with party orthodoxy.
One of Simmons’ former aides is also seeking to unseat an incumbent congressman. Justin Bernier, a former legislative aide, may run against Rep. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) in 2010.
Simmons former Chief of Staff Todd Mitchell now holds the same position for Leonard Lance, a New Jersey Republican elected in 2008.
