By Matt Clyburn
Republican Tom Foley conceded the race for governor to Dan Malloy Monday afternoon, following a long and hard-fought election cycle in which the candidates sparred numerous times over contentious state issues.
Malloy accepted his opponent’s concession Monday evening in a speech at the Capitol building. Malloy called Foley a “very classy guy” and congratulated him on a good campaign.
The Secretary of the State’s office made its official numbers public Friday afternoon, showing that Malloy had emerged victorious by about 5,600 votes out of over 1 million cast. The margin of victory was the smallest in more than 55 years, according to the Hartford Courant.
The figures were released at the end of a hectic week for Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, who declared Malloy the winner prematurely with ‘official numbers’ on Wednesday. Bysiewicz later retracted her statement and backtracked on the assertion that the numbers were official to begin with. The announcement started a firestorm in the media, during which the Associated Press projected Malloy winning, then projected Foley winning, then finally declared the Stamford Democrat’s victory.
On the evening of Election Day, it was discovered that the City of Bridgeport had ordered only 21,000 paper ballots for over 67,000 registered voters on concerns of cost. This election cycle is the first in which municipalities are charged around 50 cents per ballot.
The Secretary of the State’s office failed to catch the Bridgeport Registrars of Voters’ mistake and scrambled to Hartford Superior Court to pursue corrective action. A judge ultimately ruled that 12 Bridgeport voting precincts were to remain open for an extra two hours to provide disenfranchised voters the opportunity to cast their ballot.
Biesywicz has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle for her unilateral attempt to ban World Wrestling Entertainment apparel from the polls in late October and her handling of last week’s events. She is serving her last of three terms and will be succeeded on Jan. 5 of 2011 by State Representative Denise Merrill.
Foley’s decision came after a weekend of reflection on whether or not he would challenge the election’s results after the events that transpired. Foley said he came to the conclusion that things were most definitely amiss, “but not fraud.”
“I am confident that a recount that included the photocopied ballots would not change the outcome of the governor’s race,” Foley said. “Once all of this information was available to me this morning, deciding what to do was easy.”
Foley is the former U.S. ambassador to Ireland and a first-time candidate for elected office.
Governor-elect Dan Malloy is the former mayor of Stamford and will assume office on Jan. 5.
