BC alum and Connecticut state senator Sam Saligiuri ’88 has decided to drop his U.S. Senate bid and run for congress instead. According to a statement released by his campaign, Caligiuri is withdrawing from the race because he believes the other candidates are “in a better position than I am to defeat Senator [Chris] Dodd.”

Caligiuri is now running to unseat Democratic Congressman Chris Murphy of the 5th congressional district. Murphy was elected to the House of Representatives in the Democratic landslide of 2006.

The Observer profiled Caligiuri in October when he was still running for the Senate. Despite running for office in a heavily Democratic state, he believed his chances were strong: “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.”