MacGuffie's quest to join Freedom Caucus falls short

By Scott Benjamin

FAIRFIELD -- In a district that once embraced RINO Republicans, Bob MacGuffie, who pledged to serve in the conservative Freedom Caucus, saw his 17-month quest to serve in Congress come to abrupt halt.

MacGuffie, who has not only been attending U.S. Rep. Jim Himes' (D-4) forums almost from day one, but speaking out against the congressman's policies, will not, at least this year, have the chance to debate him on stage as he seeks his ninth term.

MacGuffie, a former financial executive from Fairfield, fell to Michael Goldstein of Greenwich, who garnered about 53 percent Tuesday in the Republican primary in the Fourth Congressional District.

"There's the ballgame," MacGuffie lamented at 9:50 p.m. when the results came in from Greenwich, the fourth largest of the municipalities in the hybrid district, which stretches from Oxford to Shelton to Greenwich.

He had lost Greenwich - a former Republican stronghold that now has three Democratic state representatives for the first time - 966 to 262.

According to the Associated Press, Goldstein captured 53 percent of the ballots. MacGuffie had prevailed on May 20 by a margin of eight delegates on the second ballot at the nominating convention at Ludlowe High School.

MacGuffie, who co-authored a book on the conservative movement and the economic hardship for the Millennial generation, had been speaking at Republican Town Committee meetings since March of last year.

Dan Miressi of Norwalk, who had been the third contender at the convention and was now working on MacGuffie's campaign and former state Rep. Laura Devlin, the 2022 Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, were among the guests at the MacGuffie Watch Party at the J.P. Percival Craft Co. craft cocktail lounge in Fairfield. MacGuffie spent much of the night viewing results via a lap-top compurter and iPhone in the corner of the cocktail lounge as his wife, Adreinne, and other supporters strode by to check on the progress.

A team of high school and college-age volunteers bounded in after spending the day greeting voters outside the 75-foot zone.

Regarding the Greenwich results, MacGuffie said, "[Goldstein] worked to get the vote out there."

Goldstein, a physician and attorney lost the 2022 primary 60 to 40 percent to Republican former Dairen First Selectman Jayme Stevenson. He had posted an array of endorsements via -e-mail in recent weeks, including one from Leora Levy of Greenwich, who was the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2022.

Said MacGuffie, "I didn't do door-to-door there. I did events there."

He said he spoke to the Greenwich Republican Town Committee last year and the members seemed "receptive." Then Goldstein, a member of the Greenwich Representative Town Meeting, entered the race last December.

MacGuffie had pledged to join the House Freedom Caucus if he was elected. That contingent has sought to reduce federal spending by threatening to not raise the debt limit. The Freedom Caucus also was instrumental in dismissing former U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California as speaker of the House.

Sacred Heart University Government professor Gary Rose has noted that MacGuffie brought a bare-knuckle" approach to attacking Himes' record.

Himes was elected in 2008 after 40 consecutive years of Republican rule in the Fourth District. That roster included Lowell Weicker, who would go on to be a U.S. senator and governor; Stewart McKinney, who rose to the position after being a leader in the state House; and Chris Shays, who served for more than 21 years. Each was considered a moderate.

Regarding the message from the Freedom Caucus, MacGuffie said, "They're telling the truth. People may not want to hear the truth. People like to hear bedtime stories. Himes, [U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy] like to tell bedtime stories."

"I'm talking $2 trillion a year in new debt, and they have no intent of paying it off," he added.

MacGuffie said he had a robust social media operation and he personally attended street fairs and other public events during the primary campaign.

Evan Honore, a recent Ridgefield High School graduate who will depar later this month to attend American University, helped develop "video content that attracts younger voters."

He said that he and other young volunteers worked at polling places in Ridgefield, New Canaan and Darien.

Honore said he decided to volunteer for the campaign after meeting MacGuffie in Stamford at the annual Prescott Bush GOP fund-raising dinner, named after the former Connecticut U.S. senator who was the father of former President George H.W. Bush and grandfather of former President George W. Bush.

Chris Pettinella, who is about to start his senior year at Trumbull High School, said he became attracted to MacGuffie after reading his book..

Pettinella said he believes that "Generation Z is trending more conservative."

He said the younger generation is facing several hurdles.

"Trillions of dollars of debt to pay off," he explained. "We can't afford to buy a house, buy a car."

MacGuffie said the ideal date for a primary is April, not August.

"August is nuts," he declared. "You have two and half months until the general election."

However, he said that he is opposed to open primaries in which unaffiliated voters can participate.

MacGuffie exclaimed, "The idea of a primary is for the partyh to get together and decided the nominee."