Simmons On Where We Live

Rob Simmons says he got back in the race for U S Senate because he was disappointed by the choice facing Republican voters.  WNPR’s Jeff Cohen reports.

 

Simmons scaled back his campaign after he lost the Republican nominating convention to former wrestling executive Linda McMahon.  But he decided to get back into the campaign late last month.

 

Speaking on WNPR’s Where We Live, Simmons explained that decision.

 

“I learned` in the military that if you’re outgunned in the field of battle, you’ve got to remove to another location and wait for the opportunity to arise to come back.  And that’s exactly what we did.” 

 

“I’m not a quitter, I felt disappointed by the convention, I decided to curtail the campaign and release my staff and wait and see what happens.”

 

What he saw was a campaign between McMahon and candidate Peter Schiff that he thought was weak on the issues and he questioned McMahon’s experience in wrestling entertainment.  That said, should he lose next week’s primary, Simmons told WNPR’s John Dankosky he would still support McMahon.

 

JD: Given everything you’ve just said, people are going to ask, why?

 

RS: Well, because -- I’m not going to qualify the nature of that support. All I said was that I will support the Republican candidates and that’s what I’ve always done.  I didn’t say I’m toeing the line.  I didn’t say I’m allowing anybody to dictate to me or any other damn thing like that.  So let’s make sure that that’s very clear.  I’ve always been an independent voice in my political career and I’m proud of that.”

 

You can hear the full interview with Simmons tonight at 7 on Where We Live.