Linda McMahon Returns to Public Eye

On January 19, the day U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman for a fifth term to the U.S. Senate in 2012, Linda McMahon’s name was on the lips of the professional political chatterers.

Would she or wouldn’t she jump at the chance to succeed Lieberman, who had alienated his Democratic base by turning Independent and supporting Sen. John McCain against Barack Obama in 2008?

The following day, McMahon, 62, was dressed in a  satin-trimmed black suit, television camera-ready, for a day that would include a news media interview, an address to the Young Republicans of Fairfield and a private dinner later in the evening. All these appointments had been made prior to the Lieberman announcement.

But the former wrestling executive has already been quoted in The New York Times, following the Lieberman announcement, as saying she planned to keep the option of running for the U.S. Senate open.

McMahon, a newcomer to the political scene when she defeated two male contenders for the Republican nomination, lost to Richard Blumenthal, who won by a nearly 12-point margin.

Still, McMahon savors the fact that she came within hailing reach of defeating a politician, Blumenthal, who she said had been running for a coveted seat in the U.S. Senate all his life.

Never mind that she outspent, with her personal fortune, every other Senate contender last year, to the tune of $50 million. She says the greatest surprise of the campaign was connecting with people across the state in all stations of life.

McMahon gave an interview to Patch at the office in downtown Stamford she leases under the name McMahon Ventures LLC, to hold meetings, do interviews and stay active in charitable works which include board membership on Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.

“I was very new to politics, but I worked hard every single day all over the state,” she said as she spoke of high points of the campaign. “There were 800 events.”

“My campaign was well organized and we made good media purchases,” she said. “I don’t think we left a stone unturned.”

On the lessons-learned side of the equation, she acknowledged abundant mailings of campaign literature may have come across as excessive.

Following the election, McMahon and her family, which includes her husband Vince, son Shane, daughter Stephanie and six grandchildren, retired to a Florida condo to unwind and refresh.

Once she returned to her home in Greenwich, McMahon lost no time filling up her calendar with public appearances and speaking engagements.

On Thursday evening, she’ll be a panelist featured at the 'Women in Power' event at the invitation of Lisa Wexler, the radio hostess (News/Talk  1400 WSTC/1350 WNLK who helped found the networking organization. The event takes place at the at 6 p.m. She’ll be joined on the panel by Dottie Herman, a real estate businesswoman, and author Walter Levine.

The topic will be “The Art of the Sale” and if anyone has experience at closing a deal, it’s McMahon.

A North Carolina native and only child, McMahon married her high school sweetheart Vince McMahon at age 17 and endured a few rocky years when their children were young. The McMahons even declared bankruptcy and accepted food stamps.

But with her college degree in French and experience gained as an intellectual property rights paralegal, McMahon began to participate in the family wrestling business on the management side, negotiating contracts and securing rights.

The couple founded their own businesss, the World Wrestling Entertainment, which has followed a vertical trajectory. The McMahons became super-wealthy as their wrestling empire expanded.

McMahon resigned from the business after 29 years when she launched her Senate campaign and has not returned aside from a passing glance at the company.

“I will sometimes read a [WWE] press release and think – Oh, what a great idea!” she said.

As a Women in Power panelist, McMahon will share insights into some of her favorite, personal business successes.

And afterward, she will keep her appointment book full.