The White House decided today not to name the Connecticut acting U.S. Attorney as its nominee to lead the state’s U.S. Attorney’s office.

David Fein (Wiggin and Dana)

Nora Dannehy (DOJ)

Instead President Obama tapped Stamford, Conn., lawyer David Fein, a partner at Wiggin and Dana, to be the state’s top federal prosecutor. He would replace acting U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy, who has led the office since Kevin O’Connor resigned in 2006.

Dannehy was among the finalists recommended for Connecticut U.S. Attorney by Nutmeg State Sens. Christopher Dodd (D) and Joseph Lieberman (I) in September.

The senators had also recommended Edgardo Ramos, a partner at the law firm Day Pitney and former federal prosecutor in New York’s Eastern District; and William Tong, an associate with the law firm Finn, Dixon & Herling and a state representative who serves on the legislature’s Judiciary Committee.

Fein, like Dannehy, has prosecutorial experience. He was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York from 1989 to 1995, serving as deputy chief of the criminal division and counsel to the U.S. Attorney during his tenure at the Manhattan-based office. He also was an associate White House counsel to President Clinton from 1995 to 1996. Read more about Fein here.

Dannehy in September 2008 was named by then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate the firings of U.S. Attorneys, which many critics charged were inappropriate and politically motivated.

According to the Washington Post, Dannehy obtained documents and conducted interviews of key individuals involved. She questioned former Bush White House senior aide Karl Rove in May. She also talked with former White House political director Sara Taylor and deputy director of political affairs Scott Jennings, The Post said.

In addition, the Post reported she had contacted advisers to former-Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), who improperly called then-New Mexico U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias, urging him to quickly push through Democratic corruption cases in New Mexico. A month after Iglesias refused the request, he was purged by the Bush administration.

There has been no public announcement about results of the investigation.

Richard Blumenthal (gov)

The late decision by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) not to run for re-election leaves his preferred successor — former Connecticut U.S. Attorney Richard Blumenthal — with a daunting challenge to organize a campaign and raise money.

Earlier this month, Dodd announced that he would retire at the end of his current term and endorsed  Blumenthal.

Blumenthal, who is now Connecticut’s attorney general, was the state’s U.S. Attorney from 1977 to 1981. He also served in the state House from 1984 to 1987 and the state Senate from 1987 to 1990. Blumenthal has been state attorney general since 1991.

Although Blumental, who filed his statement of candidacy Jan. 11, has more name recognition than the other two Democrats in the race, they have both been in the race for nearly nine months and have a jump on fundraising. This means before the August primary Blumenthal will need to work on fundraising.

The other two Democrats in the race are software executive Merrick Alpert and former Greenwich, Conn., first selectman Roger Pearson.

Merrick Alpert

Alpert, who filed his statement of candidacy May 19, 2009, has yet to file a quarterly campaign finance report, indicating that he has yet to raise the amount at which candidates are required to report their donations. Pearson, who filed his statement of candidacy May 29, 2009, had $41,528.21 cash on hand at the end of the third quarter of 2009. He has yet to file his end of year report.

Three Republicans are vying for their party’s nomination.

Former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon filed her statement of candidacy on Sept. 16, 2009. At the end of the fourth quarter she had about $1.1 million cash on hand.

McMahon’s main competition in the primary appears to be former Rep. Rob Simmons, who filed his statement of candidacy March 25, 2009, and had $1.1 million cash on hand at the end of the third quarter. He has yet to file a year-end campaign finance report.

The third Republican in the race is stockbroker Peter Schiff, who filed his statement of candidacy Oct. 8, 2009. He has yet to file a quarterly report.

Richard Blumenthal (gov)

A former Connecticut U.S. Attorney is slated to declare his candidacy to succeed Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) after the senator formally announces today that he will not run for reelection, the Associated Press reported today.

Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, was the state’s U.S. Attorney from 1977 to 1981. He also served in the state house from 1984 to 1987 and the state senate from 1987 to 1990. Blumenthal has been the state attorney general since 1991.

Dodd, who has spent more than three decades in Congress, will hold a news conference at noon today. He is expected to announce that he will not seek reelection and that Blumenthal will be running for the Democratic nomination to replace him, the AP reported.

Blumenthal told the AP that he has been eying a Senate run for years despite talk that he might run for the Democratic nomination for governor to replace Gov. Jodi Rell (R), who is retiring. Blumenthal said, “The United States Senate has been a longtime public service goal, and I would be proud and honored to have the opportunity to serve the people of Connecticut … in the Senate.”

Democrat Merrick Alpert, a software executive and former aide to Vice President Al Gore, has already thrown his hat into the race. Democrat Roger Pearson, an attorney and former Greenwich, Conn., first selectman, may also run, according to Politcs1.com.

On the other side of the aisle, former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon, stockbroker and anti-tax activist Peter Schiff and former Rep. Rob Simmons are running for the seat. Simmons had recently been polling ahead of Dodd, according to the AP.

This post has been corrected from an earlier version.

UPDATE: Below is the video of Dodd’s news conference:

One of the candidates to be the next U.S. Attorney in Connecticut wouldn’t have been a U.S. citizen at birth if it weren’t for the intercession of the Justice Department years ago, the Connecticut Post reported yesterday.

William Tong (Finn Dixon & Herling)

William Tong, who is one of four candidates for the post, which is filled by presidential appointment, was born in the United States because DOJ stopped the deportation of his parents to China, according to the newspaper. His father sent a last-minute, handwritten appeal to President Richard Nixon that DOJ accepted a few years before Tong was born, the Post said.

“The Department of Justice is why I’m here today, and it’s the reason why I was born an American and why I was born in Hartford, Connecticut,” Tong, a state representative and an associate at Stamford, Conn., law firm Finn Dixon & Herling, told the Post about the fortunate developments that shaped his life.

The U.S. Attorney candidate has the backing of Connecticut police and fire unions, the newspaper said. State lawmakers also praised Tong in Post interviews about his work on gun legislation.

Sens. Christopher Dodd (D) and Joseph Lieberman (I) recommended in September that President Barack Obama nominate either Tong, Connecticut’s Acting U.S. Attorney, Nora Dannehy, lawyer David Fein or lawyer Edgardo Ramos to become the next Connecticut U.S. Attorney.

“That was an amazing act of kindness and generosity, and to have the opportunity to serve the Department of Justice and our country as a U.S. Attorney would be an equally personal honor for me,” Tong told the newspaper.

Nora Dannehy (doj)

Connecticut’s two senators have recommended four U.S. attorney candidates to the White House, including Nora Dannehy, the prosecutor investigating the U.S. Attorney firings.  The Hartford Courant has the story.

Edgardo Ramos (Day Pitney)

A 1986 graduate of Harvard Law School, Dannehy has been a prosecutor since 1991, specializing in white collar and public corruption cases. In April 2008, Dannehy was named acting U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut — the first woman to hold the job — following the resignation of Kevin O’Connor, who went on to become associate attorney general, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department. Then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed Dannehy in September 2008 to investigate the U.S. attorney firings.

David Fein (Wiggin & Dana)

The other finalists include David Fein, partner in the law firm Wiggin & Dana, a former associate counsel to President Bill Clinton and a former federal prosecutor in New York’s Southern District; Edgardo Ramos, partner in the law firm Day Pitney and former federal prosecutor in New York’s Eastern District; and William Tong, an associate with the law firm Finn, Dixon & Herling and a state representative who serves on the legislature’s judiciary committee.

According to the Courant, Sens. Christopher Dodd (D) and Joseph Lieberman (I) sent the names to Obama in a letter to the White House Thursday.