Editing Chris Shays (section)

==Elections==
Shays served as a member of the [[Connecticut House of Representatives]] from 1975 to 1987, representing part of [[Stamford, Connecticut|Stamford]] (he has since moved to [[Bridgeport, Connecticut|Bridgeport]]).  Just a few months after starting his seventh term in the state house, Shays entered a special election for the 4th District after 16-year incumbent [[Stewart McKinney (politician)|Stewart McKinney]] died of [[AIDS]], and won with 57 percent of the vote. He won the seat in his own right in 1988 and was reelected nine times.

From 1988 to 2002, Shays was reelected fairly handily, never dropping below 57 percent of the vote even as the 4th turned more Democratic at the national level. The district, once a classic "Yankee Republican" district, swung heavily Democratic along with the rest of Connecticut from the early 1990s onward; the last Republican presidential candidate to carry it was [[George H. W. Bush]] in 1988. However, in 2004, [[Westport, Connecticut|Westport]] [[first selectman|First Selectwoman]] [[Diane Farrell]] held him to only 52 percent of the vote, his closest contest in two decades.

===2006 election===
{{Main|2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Connecticut#District 4}}
[[Image:ChrisShays.JPG|left|thumb|250px|Shays at a political debate held at [[Fairfield University]] in October 2006]]
In 2006, Shays was in "the fight of his political life",<ref name="USNewsMay"/> facing a rematch with Farrell.  According to ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'', "With money pouring in from the district and from national groups (Farrell expects to raise close to $3 million, Shays a bit less) and unregulated political interest groups targeting Shays with automated calls and negative telemarketing designed as polls, this one already has the odor of ugly."<ref name=USNewsMay/> According to the ''U.S. News'' report, Farrell says that, in 2002, Shays voted in support of Bush's post-[[September 11, 2001 attacks|9/11]] agenda 80% of the time, but other analyses of his voting record revealed that historically he voted more often with liberals.<ref name=USNewsMay/>

Despite the strong challenge from Farrell, Shays was re-elected to Congress in the 2006 election by a slim margin of 6,645 votes (3%). Shays lost Bridgeport, Stamford, [[Norwalk, Connecticut|Norwalk]], Westport, and [[Weston, Connecticut|Weston]] to Farrell, but her margin in those communities was insufficient to overcome Shays' lead in the more Republican towns in the district.

After the defeats of [[Nancy Johnson]] and [[Rob Simmons]], Shays was the only Republican member of the Connecticut congressional delegation, and the only Republican House member from [[New England]].

[[File:ChrisShays08.JPG|thumb|145px|right|Shays at a debate at Fairfield University]]

===2008 election===
{{See also|2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Connecticut#District 4}}
In the 2008 election, Shays faced Democratic nominee [[Jim Himes]], an affordable housing executive and businessman; [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian]] nominee M.A. Carrano, an experimental philosopher, systems consultant and author; and Green Party nominee Richard Duffee. Shays was defeated by Himes 51% to 48%. Himes was likely assisted by [[Barack Obama]]'s landslide victory in the 4th; Obama carried the district with 60% of the vote, one of the largest margins for a Republican-held district. Shays' defeat resulted in there being no Republicans representing New England in the House for the first time since the [[Republican Party (United States)|GOP's]] inception in the 1850s.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jim Himes Defeats Christopher Shays in 4th District |newspaper=The Hartford Courant |author=Jon Lender & Mark Pazniokas |date=November 5, 2008 |access-date=April 18, 2014 |url=https://www.courant.com/2008/11/05/jim-himes-defeats-christopher-shays-in-4th-district/}}</ref>

Shays carried 14 of the 17 towns in his district.  However, Himes took the three largest towns—Bridgeport, Norwalk and Stamford. Ultimately, Shays could not overcome a landslide loss in Bridgeport, the largest city in the district, where he won only 19% of the vote.