GREENWICH—Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley waited until 1 a.m. on Election Night before addressing supporters and campaign workers at the Greenwich Hyatt, but he still didn’t have the answer they wanted to hear, as results were still being counted in Bridgeport after a ballot shortage led to an extension of voting hours to 10 p.m.
“We’re quite confident that we will win,” Foley said. “But we want to wait until we know for sure.”
Foley was apologetic that he couldn’t offer a definitive answer on poll results, but said that it might take until after daybreak Wednesday to know the outcome. And, with so much confusion related to the Bridgeport ballot shortage — which already has involved legal action by the state Republican Party — campaign workers seemed to think there’s an excellent chance of more litigation before the election is decided.
Shortly before Foley spoke, television networks reported that the Republican candidate was ahead 4 to 5 percent. However, other reports said Malloy was leading in Bridgeport by a 4-to-1 margin. Earlier in the evening a representative for the Foley campaign stated that they held a 50,000 vote lead with towns still reporting and, at one point, Foley led 53 to 46 with 65 percent of the precincts reporting. Fox News reported that he’d won at 11:05 p.m.
However, that remains to be seen and Foley told his supporters as much before sending them home.
The evening held a lot of excitement for Foley’s campaign.
He held a 52 percent to 46 percent lead with 10 percent of precincts reporting. Mike O’Shaughnessy, a volunteer for lieutenant governor candidate Mark Boughton was pleased with the atmosphere as well as the early positive returns.
“It feels like everyone is enjoying the party and not paying attention too much to the results. Seems like everyone is waiting for the results to come in,” O’Shaughnessy, said. “Chances are pretty good. I think Tom and Mark ran a really good campaign. We’re satisfied with the way things are going.”
Liz Osborn, the Foley campaign’s press secretary, was not being able to relax at the party with the other supporters but that didn’t dampen her mood.
“We’re definitely optimistic, but we’re not taking anything for granted,” Osborn said. “I’ve been running around so much, I haven’t been able to soak [the atmosphere] in. But it seems pretty crowded in there, and the people seem excited, so hopefully it will end that way too.”
Other supporters were reserved.
Matt Sweitzer, who worked for Foley for a time, was especially cautious.
“I’m a little nervous […] but I am cautiously optimistic,” Sweitzer said. “It seems like they’re working hard, and I know Tom is.”
Meghan Doyle, a supporter and friend of Foley, was happy with the situation.
“I talked to Tom last night and I think he’s gonna win. The state needs a change, and he is very capable of doing it,” Doyle said. “[The atmosphere] is a little bit tense at the moment, but so far so good.”
Her son Liam echoed the sentiment.
“I think it’s going pretty good. Pretty good so far. Hopefully he wins, and it is a Republican seat,” Liam Doyle said.
Osborn said she pleased by the campaign that Foley ran.
“I haven’t had much time to reflect, but it seemed like a good campaign,” Osborn said. “I am excited with the position we are in right now. It has been a lot of fun, really high pace and hectic, and I think we have had a good time.”
Foley declined to take interviews early in the evening, but did say that he was in good sprits.
Also at the Hyatt, Republican Attorney General candidate Martha Dean said she was still optimistic about her chances at about 10:30 p.m. She said the didn’t expect the numbers she was seeing thus far through the evening, but she was happy with her campaign.