US Senate Candidate Linda McMahon's mailings expand - now going after Dems and Unaffiliated voters.

By Christopher Keating

September 1, 2010

For months, Linda McMahon has been filling up the mailboxes of Republican voters with direct-mail pieces about herself, Republican primary opponent Rob Simmons, and Democrat Richard Blumenthal.

The candidate for the U.S. Senate has spent about $22 million of her own money so far, including a large amount on her direct-mail operation.

Now, however, McMahon's mailings are showing up at an increasing pace at the homes of Democrats and unaffiliated voters as her message expands.

"We're certainly going beyond Republicans,'' McMahon told Capitol Watch at the Crocodile Club roast in Bristol. "We're doing unaffiliated and some selected Democrats as well.''

When asked if certain Democrats or zip codes are being targeted, McMahon said, "We need Democrat votes. We certainly need independent votes, and we need Republican votes. So we're going after them all.''

McMahon declined to say exactly how much she will be spending and whether she would reach the $50 million range that has been mentioned in recent months.

"I'm just seeing, as the campaign progresses, as to what we need to put in for our media buys because that's the predominant part'' of campaign expenses, she said.

The biggest piece to end up in the mailboxes so far was a 16-page blockbuster that was arguably the largest political brochure in Connecticut state history.

Measuring about 11 inches long by 8.5 inches wide, the brochure was slightly larger than the recently slimmed-down covers of "Fortune,'' "Money,'' and "Newsweek'' magazines. Its size was noticeable as it was mailed out at a time when Republican opponent Peter Schiff was mailing out a two-sided leaflet on heavy paper.

McMahon's brochure wasn't quite the L.L. Bean catalog, but it was huge by Connecticut political standards.