Take a war chest almost as massive as U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays', the 10-term Republican who Jim Himes is gunning to unseat in the 4th Congressional District, and factor in voters' belief that the economy is the most pressing issue. Now mix in all those Democratic honchos itching to rid New England of the last Republican House representative and it looks like this upstart challenger has the political winds aligned to stir up one of the tightest, wildest, most watched races this election season.

Himes, a former investment banker with Goldman Sachs from Greenwich who now works for a nonprofit building affordable "green" housing, spent the day Wednesday after his primary victory thanking supporters early in the morning, meeting with community leaders and being interviewed by television and print reporters.

Himes overwhelmingly bested his challenger, fellow Greenwich resident Lee Whitnum, in Tuesday's primary, one that featured a light turnout throughout the 17-town Fairfield County congressional district.

"We're all breathing a sigh of relief right now. Even in a low-turnout primary, you take nothing for granted," Himes said from his Bridgeport headquarters. "We largely viewed it as an opportunity to get a debate going now" about the issues pressing the district.

"The common denominator issue now is the economy. The interesting thing is it doesn't matter if I am talking to someone who is wealthy or poor, they're concerned about it," Himes said. "Everybody is focused on

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this very unstable economy and feeling insecure."

Economic woes are intertwined, he said, with transportation and energy issues.

"Somebody I was just talking to in Bridgeport was commenting that Congress can spend $20 million building bridges and $13 billion every single month on the war in Iraq, when Congress ought to make it an absolute priority to relieve our transportation problems here."

Shays faced a tight battle to retain his congressional seat in the 2006 election when former Westport First Selectman Diane Farrell made the war in Iraq — and Shays' support for the president — her central theme. Shays won by a narrow 5,747-vote margin. This time around, however, Shays may have to campaign harder to hold onto his seat, because Democratic voter registration in the 4th District soared with 11,329 new voters joining the party since January and only 3,462 new voters enrolling as Republicans.

"Himes is a very viable challenger, and that's evident from the amount of money he's raised so far — $2.1 million," according to the Center for Responsive Politics, Gary L. Rose, chairman of Sacred Heart University's Department of Government and Politics, said. "He's not far behind Shays in fundraising, and that's unusual for a challenger."

So far, Shays has amassed $2.3 million in his re-election bid.

Michael Sohn, Shays' campaign manager, says this is the third election in which Shays has faced a "targeted" race, a contest in which Democrats at the national level are pouring money, campaign organization and manpower into defeating him.

"The 2006 election had an environment of throw the Republicans out. People would come up to Chris and hug him wherever he went and say 'you're my congressman, but I just can't vote Republican.' This year, 2008, is different. People are saying: 'you are my congressman. Prove to me what you've done and why you deserve my vote,' " Sohn said. "And Chris Shays is doing that everywhere he goes."

Among the items Shays touts when he talks to constituents is his plan to give middle-income taxpayers, those in the 28-percent tax bracket, a tax credit for their winter home heating bills.

"We need to find better sources of energy so that when we buy oil from foreign countries we are not so reliant on them and what goes on with them," Shays said. "Our economy and even our national security depend on that."

The 4th District has remained in Republican hands since 1969 when U.S. Rep. Don Irwin of Norwalk left office. It's a district that has been represented by Lowell P. Weicker Jr. and Stewart McKinney as well as Shays, all politicians with a reputation for being independent-minded, bucking their party and being somewhat unpredictable.

Still, Sohn concedes that this time around the district will be "driven by the presidential agenda and the issues at the top of the ticket."

Barack Obama is polling "quite well in Connecticut," Rose said, "and it's possible that he is going to have some coattails to pull votes to all the Democrats and that works in Jim Himes' behalf because Obama is a very popular nominee."

To Shays, who has had a reputation as a maverick in Congress as well as a lawmaker capable of building bipartisan support, some constituents' comments don't make sense.

"They'll say, 'Chris I like you, but I want a Democratic Congress.' And I'll say, 'well you're getting a Democratic Congress anyway. But isn't it nice to have me around?' "

If Obama wins the election, Shays said, "I would think that I am precisely the Republican he would want to have. I reach out to the other side across the aisle. I always look for a Democratic co-sponsor on my bills."