Tom Foley Concedes CT Governor Race

Updated 3:54 p.m. Eastern Time

Republican Tom Foley has conceded the Connecticut governor's race to Democrat Dan Malloy.

Foley said at a press conference in Hartford today that "the election on Tuesday, although very close, was a conclusive victory for Dan Malloy and should not be questioned."

"I hope my supporters will accept my word on this," he added.

Foley's legal team spent the weekend examining the results of the election, which Malloy won by less than 10,000 votes. He said that while he could have challenged the use of some photocopied ballots, he believed they reflected the true intention of voters. He added that any irregularities would not have been enough to close the gap between the candidates.

"I am happy for Connecticut that, despite irregularities, there is no credible evidence of fraudulent voting," he said today, according to the Hartford Courant.

Both Foley and Malloy last week began the transition process to enter the governor's office. Foley's hope for victory rested in part on evidence of problems in the voting process, including a ballot shortage that prompted polls to be kept open for two extra hours in Bridgeport and the discovery of a bag of uncounted ballots two days after the election.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, businessman and Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Foley and Stamford Mayor and Democrat Dannel Malloy

On Friday, Foley said that because of the voting process, "we are being laughed at around the world." Suggesting "there may be a rat" in the process, Foley rejected official vote totals showing him down and said, "The office of secretary of state hasn't been doing their job, so we're going to do it for them."

Foley, a wealthy businessman who spent more than $10 million of his own money on the race, added that Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz's "personal credibility is completely shot."

Having reviewed the results over the weekend, however, Foley appears to have concluded that he did in fact lose.

"Once all of this information was made available to me this morning, deciding what to do was easy," he said today.

Republicans in the state have called for investigations into handling of the votes in election in Bridgeport. Foley said today that voting in the city was "chaotic" but added that the situation was not as a result of "willful behavior."

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Brian Montopoli is a political reporter for CBSNews.com. You can read more of his posts here. Follow Hotsheet on Facebook and Twitter.

[Exposinghotair]

CT is now in the unfortunate position of soon having a liar in the U.S. Senate, and a liar in the Governor's chair.
Dan Malloy's scurrilous ads about Tom Foley's relationship with the Bibb Company demonstrated that he was willing to say anything to win elective office. This low-level political hack will be CT's undoing as both citizens and businesses flee our state in favor od more hospitable tax and regulatory environments. CT has some of the dumbest voters in the country. We can only hope the federal government will not step in to bail it out, but let it swim in the cesspool of its own making.

[formrusmcsgt]

A repub with some class.