McKinney won’t challenge Himes in Connecticut

House Republicans have experienced a significant recruiting setback with the decision of Connecticut state Sen. John McKinney (R) not to run against freshman Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.).

McKinney’s candidacy was almost a foregone conclusion, as Himes just won the seat in 2008 and it belonged to McKinney’s father before.

{mosads}McKinney said the main factor in his decision was his family. He has three children.

“It is definitely my intention to run for reelection to the state Senate,” McKinney told the Hearst Connecticut Newspapers on Wednesday. “The course I’m choosing right now gives me the opportunity to do something I love, which is to help others; be a public servant; help the people of the state of Connecticut and at the same time it allows me to stay at home and be the father I want to be for my kids.”

National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) said earlier Wednesday that he didn’t have to work very hard at recruiting so far this cycle because the candidates were coming to him. The committee has experienced some successful weeks of recruiting, but McKinney’s announcement is an unwelcome surprise.

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McKinney’s father, Stewart McKinney, held Himes’s seat between 1971 and 1987, and his son was widely considered a likely candidate for it.

Among the candidates to whom the GOP could turn now is state Sen. Dan Debicella and former state Senate candidate Rob Russo.

Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), a centrist who fell to Himes in 2008, will not seek a return to Congress.