The woman who helped transform TV wrestling into a multimillion dollar business is one smackdown closer to becoming an American senator.Linda McMahon, the co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), has worked with some of the biggest names in the sport - including Jesse Ventura and Hulk Hogan.

She has now won the Republican primary in Connecticut to become the party's official candidate for the senate seat vacated by the Democratic incumbent Chris Dodd, who is retiring. The election will be held on November 2, when a third of the Senate and all of the seats in the House of Representatives will be up for grabs.

Mrs McMahon spent $50m of her own money on the campaign, which dwarfed the cash raised by her opponentsAs befits the tough-talking businesswoman, who is married to the company's flamboyant promoter Vince McMahon, her message is uncompromising. "This election is about jobs," she told supporters at her victory rally. "The American dream is threatened, but Washington continues its reckless spending, massive debt and tax increases.

"Washington is suffocating small businesses and killing jobs." Mrs McMahon is one of several wealthy businesswomen who are fighting high profile political battles in this year's mid-term elections.Carly Fiorina, the former boss of Hewlett Packard, is the Republican candidate for one of the Senate seats in California.

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman also hopes to become the state's governor. The elections are seen as a test of President Barack Obama's popularity but have thrown focus on the unpopularity of both parties in the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Incumbent Republicans are facing strong challenges from so-called Tea Party backed candidates who want to see Washington's power curbed. Despite her victory on Tuesday, Mrs McMahon faces an uphill struggle against the state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, in what is seen as a traditionally Democratic state.