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It was a normal day of voting in Weston until Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMachon arrived with her entourage to document the final day of her bid for senator against the Democrat, Richard Blumenthal.
According to Weston's poll moderator and Republican chairman, Glenn Major, McMahon's film crew arrived and attempted to document McMahon's daughter Stephanie and son-in-law Paul Levesque (who wrestles for WWE as Triple H) cast their ballots. "[McMahon] is not a registered voter in Weston, so she's not allowed in," Major said.
When the film crew arrived, Major asked them if they were press or if they were staff. "They were staff," he said. "I don't think they perceived themselves as campaigners. I don't think they were trying to do anything but chronicle [the day]."
McMahon also breached the 75-foot barrier that candidates must maintain from polling locations after she was invited by the Girl Scouts to take a picture. Major then told McMahon that she could not enter the area she was in, and she quickly moved to a legally acceptable distance.
"Linda made an error, she truly made an error," Major said. "But she left immediately, so it's no harm no foul."
But Democratic Town Committee chair Barbara Reynolds said she believes the breach is something to take into account. "I find it particularly disturbing that someone who believes themselves qualified to be U.S. Senator would not know the most basic protocol of who is allowed inside a polling place."
McMahon's spokesman Sean McCoy said that the Republican candidate was merely documenting her travels across Connecticut for personal use.
"It's not going to be reproduced publicly," McCoy said of McMahon's election day film. "We've been filming her throughout the campaign, and we're going to keep track of everything throughout the night."
Major said voter turnout has been steady, and the brief dramatic interlude did little to sway the constant influx of Weston voters.
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