Darien Man Seeks GOP Senate Nod
Darien Man Seeks GOP Senate Nod
WEST HARTFORD (AP) â The leader of a campaign against illegal immigration announced his candidacy Tuesday for the US Senate, seeking the Republican nomination to unseat Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman.
Paul Streitz, a 63-year-old Darien resident, said he will carry the message of his organization, Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control, as his main campaign theme.
âIt is time to get the troops out of Iraq and put them on the Mexican border,â Streitz said. âThousands of Mexicans and other illegal aliens from other countries come into this country every day. This is an invasion, not immigration.â
Streitz, who works in marketing at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York, said Lieberman can be beaten this year because of challenges from his own party. Democrat Ned Lamont of Greenwich last week declared his candidacy against Lieberman and vowed to take the race to a primary if he does not win the party nomination on May 20.
âI think that Lieberman is extremely vulnerable in this election, more so than ever,â Streitz said.
Streitz criticized Lieberman for supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he blamed for sending American manufacturing jobs overseas.
âI think we will gain a lot of support from the people concerned about immigration from across the country and they will focus on Lieberman and his position,â Streitz said.
Republican Alan Schlesinger, 48, former mayor of Derby and a six-term state representative, also said he is considering running for the US Senate.
Lieberman campaign manager Sean Smith said the Republican candidacies are a sign that the incumbent senator is serving his constituents.
âIt shows Republicans do not want Joe Lieberman in the US Senate because they know heâs a strong, loyal Democrat, professing Democratic values,â Smith said. âIt also probably shows the Connecticut Republican party is cheering on Ned Lamont and applauding his strategy of tearing down Senator Lieberman.â
Smith declined to comment specifically about either Republican candidate.