WASHINGTON — Former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean is set to join the list of party notables passing through the state to campaign for 4th Congressional District candidate Diane Farrell.

He has a stop in Bridgeport scheduled for Sunday night.

The former Vermont governor left the presidential race in February after an anticlimactic showing in party primaries, and has since taken the reins of Democracy for America, a group aimed at harnessing the grass-roots successes of his presidential bid.

Sunday night Dean will headline two Farrell fund-raisers at a private home in Bridgeport, with suggested donations of $250 and $50.

Sunday afternoon Dean will attend a fund-raiser in Stamford for Bethany native Kim Hynes, who is running for state representative in the 149th District.

Farrell, Westport’s first selectwoman, said she is "honored" to have Dean’s backing.

"He’s certainly to be commended for galvanizing the Democratic Party and raising issues that have become part of the national debate," Farrell said.

Farrell’s rival, incumbent U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4, won the endorsement Thursday of the Republican Main Street Partnership, a centrist political action committee of which Shays is "an original member."

Republican Main Street Partnership member U.S. Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del., called Shays "a consistent voice for fiscal responsibility and personal responsibility in Congress."

"We need him back in Washington helping to keep the centrist wing of our party strong," Castle said.

During her campaign, Farrell has sought to paint Shays not as a moderate, but as a conservative who follows the Republican leadership in the House.

Farrell points to a voting analysis by the periodical Congressional Quarterly, which indicated Shays votes with leadership about 75 percent of the time.

"Chris may not like the numbers I use, but Chris does not disagree with the numbers I use," Farrell said.

Last month House Minority Leader U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., visited Connecticut to raise money for Farrell and 2nd Congressional District challenger Jim Sullivan. Earlier this year, Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe stumped in the 4th District.

Hynes, a stay-at-home mother who backed Dean during his presidential bid, has been tapped as a member of the "Dean Dozen," a group of candidates backed by Democracy for America. Hynes is the first Democrat to challenge in the 149th District in eight years. Republicans have held the seat for 90 years.