After surprising showing, will Peter Schiff take on Lieberman?

Linda McMahon, former chief executive officer of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., won the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in Connecticut. She will now face Democrat Richard Blumenthal in November’s election.

Ms. McMahon, 61, defeated Peter Schiff, president of Westport, Connecticut-based Euro Pacific Capital Inc., and former U.S. Representative Rob Simmons, in yesterday’s primary.

With about 90% of the vote counted, Ms. McMahon had 49% of the vote. Mr. Schiff, who garnered national attention for predicting the 2008 market meltdown and subsequent recession, received 23% of the vote. Mr. Simmons received 28%, according to the Associated Press.

Although Mr. Schiff came in last, he did better than expected. A poll earlier in the week showed the asset manager receiving barely 15% of the vote.

Likely buoyed by his surprising showing, Mr. Schiff on Tuesday evening hinted that he might run against Connecticut’s other U.S. senator, independent Joseph Lieberman, in the 2012 election.

According to a report on web site CTNewsJunkie, Mr. Schiff said: “The good news is that Joe Lieberman is almost as unpopular [as current Senator Chris Dodd]. I am going to keep an open mind.”

The investment manager, a surprise entrant into the race for Sen.Dodd’s seat, was endorsed by Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine. But he was outgunned by Ms. McMahon, who ran the Stamford, Connecticut-based World Wrestling Entertainment with her husband, Vince, the company’s current chairman. The WWE has a a market value of more than $1 billion.

Indeed, Ms. McMahon reportedly spent nearly $30 million in the primary — the most ever by a candidate in a Connecticut election. By contrast, Mr. Schiff spent $1 million of his own money on his campaign, raising another $3.2 million from donors, according to his web site.

Mr. Schiff played up the mismatch in his concession speech. “Linda McMahon spent close to $30 million on her campaign,” Mr. Schiff said. “What did she beat me by, 20,000 votes for an extra $20 million? How much is that per vote?”

In her Senate campaign, Ms. McMahon has faced questions about past steroid use by the wrestlers employed by WWE and the violence of the company’s staged bouts and skits.

In recent weeks, Mr. Schiff ran a television ad that showed Ms. McMahon kicking a ring announcer in the groin. But in her victory speech, Ms. McMahon thanked challengers Schiff and Simmons. She invited both men “to join us as we fight to win this seat for all the people of Connecticut.”

In his concession speech, Mr. Schiff did endorse Ms. McMahon, albeit reluctantly. Mr. Schiff said: “At this point, [McMahon] is our only shot to beating Dick Blumenthal, so I guess we have to support her … Linda McMahon is saying the right things. Let’s hope she means some of it.”

[Bloomberg News and CTNewsJunkie contributed to this article]