U.S. Rep. Jim Himes

Background

With the help of Barack Obama's coattails, Himes unseated New England's only Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008. On election day, Himes stood outside polling places in Bridgeport next to a huge photo of him standing with Obama.

That may have been enough to edge him past Shays, who had managed to barely fend off strong challenges from Democrat Diane Farrell in 2004 and 2006. Mid-term elections historically are difficult for the party in power, so Himes was girding for a tough 2010 re-election contest from the get-go.

Himes caught one early break when John P. McKinney, the state Senate minority leader and the son of Shays's predecessor, the late U.S. Rep. Stewart B. McKinney, opted not to run. His main challenger was state Sen. Dan Debicella of Stratford.

Knowing he was on the GOP's target list, Himes raised reams of money early on and portrayed himself as a politician in the mold of Shays. He cast himself as New England's new maverick and painted Debicella as "reckless" and "extreme." Debicella fought back hard, and his campaign won plaudits, and even some campaign cash, from Republicans in Washington. With polls showing a tight race, Himes pulled out all the stops, lobbying the White House for an 11^th-hour presidential visit. Obama obliged, holding a rally in Bridgeport days before the election.

In the end, it wasn't as close  as Himes had feared or as Debicella had hoped, and the Republican wave that swept other parts of the country bypassed Connecticut. But Himes could well see another tough fight in 2012.

A former Goldman Sachs vice president, Himes left Wall Street to work for a non-profit developer of affordable housing, Enterprise Development. It was founded by James Rouse, a developer and philanthropist.

He was the Greenwich Democratic town chairman and a volunteer in Farrell's last challenge to Shays.

In his campaign, Himes stressed he was not a former Goldman Sachs executive in the mold of the independently wealthy Jon Corzine, who self-financed a campaign for the U.S. Senate. Himes was born in Lima, Peru and spent his childhood in Colombia and Peru, where his father worked for the Ford Foundation. He speaks fluent Spanish.

He moved to New Jersey with his mother after his parent's divorce. On the trail, he sometimes referred to himself as the product of a single-parent home.

In December 2009, Himes voted with the rest of the state delegation for financial regulatory reforms. He also has supported extending unemployment benefits, fair pay for women, and the cash for clunkers program. But he's bucked his party on several other issues, pushing for federal spending cuts and voting against a second stimulus package that passed the House in May because it was not fully paid for. Himes also voted in favor of the $858 billion tax package that renewed all the Bush-era tax cuts, even for those making over $250,000 a year. Going into the 112^th Congress, Himes has said he'll push for measures to close the federal deficit.

Himes is married and has two children.

Financial Disclosure

2009 Financial Disclosure: Himes had a net worth between $2,390,051 and $5,615,000, ranking him 76th in the House, according to a review by the Center for Responsive Politics. To see images of his financial filings, click here.