Republican Lisa Wilson-Foley, the Simsbury entrepreneur who lost the lieutenant governor’s nomination last year, announced Tuesday that she will run for the open seat in the Fifth Congressional District.
U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy announced earlier this year that he will run for retiring U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s seat, leaving the seat vacant.
Wilson-Foley, who was fairly new to politics last year, was not shaken by her loss to Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor.
Wilson-Foley continued to make herself visible at political events such as the Prescott Bush dinner last weekend.
Click here to read our profile of Wilson-Foley from last summer.
In a press release announcing her intention to run, Wilson-Foley said, “For way too long, elected officials from both parties have put their needs and those of special interests ahead of all of us. The sad reality is that in doing so, they have ignored the constitution, trampled on the common sense fiscal policies that helped shape our country and created a mindset of ‘government knows best.’”
“I will fight to create jobs, to repeal and/or defund the recent health care reform bill, to work to overhaul our federal education system to make our future workforce competitive in the global marketplace, and last but certainly not least, to balance our budget,” she added.
Wilson-Foley has been involved in several business startups, including four of them in health care.
Several Republicans including Justin Bernier, Mark Greenberg, and Mike Clark have announced or are exploring a run for the seat. On the Democratic side former state Rep. Elizabeth Esty of Cheshire announced her candidacy Monday and House Speaker Chris Donovan of Meriden has also been mentioned as a potential candidate.
