Sam Caligiuri ‘88 announces his plan for a government reform initiative at a recent public appearance.

United States Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) is a long-term fixture in Washington D.C., having served in the U.S. Senate since 1980. As he has become increasingly unpopular after receiving both favorable mortgage loans and donations from former mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, five Connecticut Republicans have lined up to challenge the embattled incumbent. The first candidate to announce his bid was BC alumnus and current Republican state senator Sam Caligiuri ’88.

Caligiuri is very frank when explaining why he entered the race: “It is abundantly clear that we have to vote out Chris Dodd.” Dodd has been in Washington for over 35 years, having served three terms in the House of Representatives before moving to the Senate. Caligiuri believes that his candidacy represents a generational change in Washington, adding that Dodd has been in Washington since Caligiuri was seven years old.

Currently in his early forties, Caligiuri has been involved in politics ever since 1985 when he was a cadet at Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania. Always desiring a life in public service, he entered the academy with the hopes of gaining admission to West Point to eventually become an army officer. While knee problems prevented him from serving his country in the army, he turned to politics: “I realized that politics was another route to fulfill my desire to serve.”

His first exposure to politics came as an intern for then-Congressman John Rowland (R-CT), who later hired Caligiuri as deputy legal counsel when Rowland became governor. Caligiuri first held elected office as an alderman in his hometown of Waterbury, Connecticut after leaving Governor Rowland’s office.

He eventually rose to become president of the board of aldermen when he suddenly became mayor in July of 2001 when incumbent mayor Phillip Giordano was arrested for arranging sexual liaisons with young girls. The FBI discovered Giordano’s solicitations while already investigating him for corruption. Caligiuri served as acting mayor during what he described as a “difficult time” because “Waterbury had already been subject to a financial crisis and corruption, but the then-mayor’s crime was unfathomable.”

Caligiuri served out the remainder of his term and left elected office at the end of 2001, as he had decided to do before becoming acting mayor. He returned to politics in 2006 after winning a seat in the Connecticut Senate in a heavily-Democratic Waterbury-based district. Caligiuri is proud of his accomplishments during his state senate term. He was the only Republican to vote against the state budget in 2007.

“I believed it would lead to deficits, tax increases, and an eroding economy. One newspaper dubbed me ‘the last sane man in Hartford.’ I believe the cornerstone for strong fiscal policy is sound spending, and this is why I voted against this bill,” Caligiuri said. Caligiuri’s second accomplishment was to pass a bill to fight gender pay discrimination, because Connecticut’s laws were lagging behind the federal laws against wage discrimination.

Caligiuri faces a tough road ahead in his campaign for Washington. Not only does he trail Dodd in most head-to-head polls, but he also faces four primary opponents. His competitors include former Congressman Rob Simmons (R-CT), former Ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley, Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon, and financial analyst Peter Schiff. According to opensecrets.org, Caligiuri already trails Dodd, Simmons, and Foley in total fundraising (data on Schiff and McMahon are unavailable). Furthermore, a Quinnipiac GOP primary poll from September 10-14 gives Simmons a 43%-4% advantage over Caligiuri.

Despite the daunting poll numbers, Caligiuri is confident that he can win the election and that he is best suited to unseat Dodd. He not only believes that he represents a generational change in Washington, but also that having no ties to Washington is an advantage in the upcoming election. In order to argue that Dodd has been in Washington for too long, the GOP candidate must be a Washington outsider, and “unlike Dodd, Rob Simmons, or Tom Foley,…I have no ties to Washington.”

Caligiuri also touts his working class background, the fact that he is the son of immigrants, his ability to represent Democratic districts as a Republican, and his record of reform as reasons that he can best unseat Dodd. He plans to appeal to every GOP town committee so he can win the vote at the state GOP convention in 2010. If his opponents force a primary vote, he contends that he will win. “With five candidates splitting the vote, I am in the best position to energize the GOP base and win the primary.”

The state senator has some harsh criticisms of President Barack Obama. Caligiuri disagrees with Obama’s public option proposal and offers harsh words for the stimulus package, which he believes “has not helped the economy grow but has only helped fund Democratic pet projects.” In addition, Caligiuri staunchly opposes the cap-and-trade bill and questions whether Obama should have won the Nobel Peace Prize considering his lack of accomplishments. Regardless of these disagreements, he pledged to work with President Obama when elected.

Caligiuri spent his junior and senior years at Boston College after transferring from Valley Forge. He remembers his two years fondly: “I had a great time at BC. My only regret was not enrolling at BC earlier.” He also recalls a diverse political climate at BC, and though he was not particularly politically active, he was a member of the BC Speech Team. Caligiuri commuted from Cambridge his junior year and lived on Strathmore Road his senior year.