WEST HARTFORD - United States Senate candidate Linda McMahon, who houses her campaign headquarters in West Hartford Center, officially cut ties with World Wrestling Entertainment on Nov.6, according to an announcement on her official Web site. The WWE filed the resignation with the SEC stating that McMahon has relinquished her role as director of the company due to increasing demands of her schedule as she makes a bid for Chris Dodd's senate seat next year.

Since McMahon declared running in September, opponents have criticized her for trying to buy the senate seat, citing her personal wealth and the fact that she spent two million dollars in two weeks toward her campaign at one point last month.

Another reason McMahon may have disassociated herself from WWE is to escape criticism from Connecticut Democrats who have tried to use McMahon's company against her.

"If Linda McMahon is going to talk glowingly about her role as CEO of the WWE, then she also must answer for the kind of female-degrading, sexually-exploitive, steroid-fueled programming it's become known for," said Connecticut Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo in a news release.

A few weeks ago, the Connecticut Democrats filed a Federal Elections Commission complaint against McMahon stating her campaign "accepted in-kind corporate contributions" from the WWE when they took down their own YouTube footage of wrestlers engaged in simulated sex and necrophilia. This was in response to an article by Talking Points Memo that pointed out the controversial footage associated with McMahon. On the same day the article was published - Oct. 16 - the WWE immediately took down the footage to bat away the negative publicity.

The Democrats claimed that McMahon's company was selective in which videos they took down because they still left up thousands of other WWE videos.

"In sum, WWE has selectively enforced its rights only in sofar as they benefit Ms. McMahon's candidacy," according to a press release via the Connecticut Democrats.

McMahon ran the WWE with her husband, Vince McMahon. He too will step away from the WWE on Jan. 1, 2010.

According to the latest Quinnipiac University poll released on Nov. 12, McMahon leads Dodd 43 percent to his 41 percent. Rob Simmons is the only Republican who leads McMahon, pulling ahead with 49 percent.