Tom Foley concedes Conn. governor's race. What happened to GOP's challenge?
Republican Tom Foley, who sought an investigation of chaotic voting in Bridgeport, Conn., now says there is no credible evidence of fraud and the result 'was a conclusive victory for Dan Malloy.'
Tom Foley, the Republican candidate for governor of Connecticut, speaks after conceding to Democrat Dan Malloy during a news conference in Hartford, Conn., on Nov. 8.
Jessica Hill/AP
Republican Tom Foley has conceded the Connecticut gubernatorial race to Democrat Dan Malloy. Why did he do that? After all, he and the state鈥檚 other GOP leaders have called for a federal investigation into voting chaos in Bridgeport, Connecticut鈥檚 biggest city. On the morning following last Tuesday鈥檚 election, Mr. Foley said his own count showed he鈥檇 won by 2,000 votes.
Well, that was then. Foley slapped his hand of cards down on the table and walked away for the simple reason that he鈥檚 now convinced he won鈥檛 win. Official tallies show him about 5,800 votes behind. He won鈥檛 be able to make up that gap, whatever the outcome of the mess in Bridgeport.
There is no credible evidence of fraudulent voting in Bridgeport, said Foley at a Monday press conference. A legal battle would simply disenfranchise voters who cast ballots in good faith, he said.
鈥淭he election on Tuesday was a conclusive victory for Dan Malloy, and this result should not be questioned,鈥� said Foley, a wealthy Greenwich businessman and former US ambassador to Ireland.
If you didn鈥檛 follow the Connecticut tale, it was something like what happened in Florida in the 2000 presidential election, where the outcome of Bush v. Gore hung on a few hanging chads. Only there was fall foliage in Connecticut.
On Election Day, Bridgeport election officials discovered they had not ordered nearly enough ballots. They鈥檇 bought only 21,000, despite the fact that the city has some 69,000 registered voters.
Chaos ensued. Election officials simply photocopied the ballots they had, a fairly dubious procedure. Polls stayed open two hours extra. The Associated Press declared Mr. Malloy the victor 鈥� then took it back. Somebody found a bag of uncounted ballots days after the vote was over.
Foley and the state GOP looked hard at what had happened over the weekend. A lawyer hired by the Connecticut Republican Party sent the US attorney鈥檚 office a letter asking for an investigation, saying, among other things, that voting in Bridgeport was plagued by 鈥渟ignificant deficiencies, irregularities, and improprieties.鈥�
But days of reflecting on the matter appear to have convinced Foley that being magnanimous is preferable to being litigious. Given the number of votes still at issue, and the gap, he and his advisers decided to accept Fridays鈥� declaration by Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz that Malloy will be the Nutmeg State鈥檚 first Democratic governor since 1986.
With the end of Connecticut鈥檚 controversy, the laurel wreath for most entertaining contested election, gubernatorial division, now passes to Minnesota. There, Republican Tom Emmer now trails Democrat Mark Dayton by about 8,750 votes.
Mr. Emmer picked up six votes on Monday morning after a suburban precinct in Hennepin County, the state鈥檚 largest, rechecked their numbers. Unless Dayton鈥檚 lead reaches about 10,500 votes 鈥� roughly half a percentage point of total votes cast 鈥� the state will pay for a recount.
Attorney Tony Trimble, a lawyer for Emmer, says the Republican candidate will not waive his right to the recount, since he鈥檚 making up ground.