Tom Foley (Connecticut)
Thomas Coleman Foley (b. January 9, 1952) was a Republican candidate for Governor of Connecticut in the 2014 elections.[1][2] He secured the GOP nomination in the primary election on August 12, 2014, and ran on both the Republican and Independent Party lines on the general election ballot. Foley and lieutenant governor mate Heather Somers faced the Democratic/Working Families tickets of incumbents Dan Malloy and Nancy Wyman and the unaffiliated ticket of Joe Visconti and Chester Harris. Tom Foley (Connecticut) lost the general election on November 4, 2014.
Foley last sought the governor's office in 2010. After winning the Republican primary, he and running mate Mark D. Boughton faced current Gov. Malloy and Lt. Gov. Wyman (D) in the general election on November 2, 2010. Foley lost the election by a narrow margin of about 6,200 votes, or approximately one half of one percentage point.[3][4] Rather than team up with Foley for a second time in 2014, Boughton opted to make his own bid for governor, although he withdrew his candidacy before the two could square off in the August primary.
From 2006-2009, Foley served as the 29th United States Ambassador to Ireland under President George W. Bush.[5][4] He has also worked for the Department of Defense and Department of State.
Biography
Foley grew up in a family of six children and attended Phillips Academy for high school. At 17, he took a year off from school to travel the country while supporting himself through various manual labor jobs. He worked construction as well as on an assembly line at a canning factory. During that year, he traveled to Alaska and joined a union.[4]
Foley earned both a bachelor's degree and MBA from Harvard University. At Harvard, he played for the school's rugby team. Upon completing his education, Foley worked first with McKinsey & Company and then at Citicorp Venture Capital. He left the latter group in 1985 to found the NTC Group, an investment management company in Greenwich, Connecticut.
The NTC Group consulted with struggling businesses to design turnaround plans. The firm grew to employ 6,000 people before it ultimately went bankrupt. In addition, Foley owned South Carolina-based Stevens Aviation, which he bought in 1989.[5]
Aside from his experience as a businessman, Foley's services have been employed on several occasions by the U.S. government. Perhaps best known for his three-year posting as United States Ambassador to Ireland from 2006-2009, Foley had previously spent time in Iraq, between 2003 and 2004, leading efforts to restore the country's economy, and was consequently awarded with the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award.[4]
Education
- Phillips Academy
- B.A. Harvard University
- MBA - Harvard Business School
Elections
2014
- See also: Connecticut Gubernatorial election, 2014
Foley ran for Governor of Connecticut in 2014.[1] He won the Republican nomination in the August 12 primary, leading to a rematch with Democratic incumbent Dan Malloy who defeated him for the governorship in the 2010 election. Foley was also nominated as the Independent Party's candidate for governor in 2014. Foley and Heather Somers, his running mate for lieutenant governor, faced the Democratic/Working Families ticket of incumbents Malloy and Nancy Wyman and the unaffiliated ticket of Joe Visconti and Chester Harris. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.[2][6]
Results
Primary election
| Governor of Connecticut, Republican Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
 Tom Foley |
55.6% | 44,144 | ||
| John McKinney | 44.4% | 35,282 | ||
| Total Votes | 79,426 | |||
| Election results via Connecticut Secretary of State. | ||||
General election
| Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Dan Malloy/Nancy Wyman Incumbent |
50.7% | 554,314 | |
| Republican | Tom Foley/Heather Somers | 48.2% | 526,295 | |
| Independent | Joe Visconti/Chester Harris | 1% | 11,456 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.1% | 708 | |
| Total Votes | 1,092,773 | |||
| Election results via Connecticut Secretary of State | ||||
Race background
Close race ratings in Connecticut
On March 28, 2014, Democratic incumbent Gov. Dan Malloy formally announced his bid for re-election to a second term. He again teamed up with 2010 running mate and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman for the 2014 race.[7] As the campaign season progressed, the Daily Kos labeled the race a toss-up. The rating was assigned in consideration of a series of polls showing Malloy behind or rivaling Republican nominee Tom Foley in potential general election match-ups.[8][9] The Cook Political Report, meanwhile, consistently rated Connecticut as "Lean D," meaning the race was competitive, but the Democrats had an advantage.[10]
Rematch of 2010 campaign
Malloy won the governorship in November 2010 following a general election campaign against Republican Tom Foley, a businessman and former U.S. ambassador to Ireland under former President George W. Bush. The contest ended over a week after the general election took place. There were several reversed calls on the outcome of the race before Malloy was announced as the winner.[11] At the May 2014 state Republican convention, delegates endorsed Foley for the second gubernatorial cycle in a row. Fellow GOP candidate and state Sen. John McKinney also garnered enough delegate support to remain eligible for the nomination, preventing Foley from running unopposed in the August 12 primary.[12]
Lieutenant gubernatorial primaries
Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman (D) was first elected in 2010 and sought re-election in 2014 alongside Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy. Wyman and Malloy were uncontested in their respective primaries on August 12 and ran together in the general election.
The outcome of the August 12 Republican primary for Connecticut lieutenant governor remained unknown until Wednesday afternoon after election day, when state Rep. Penny Bacchiochi conceded the race to Groton Town Council Member and former Mayor Heather Somers.[13][14][15] With 100 percent of precincts reporting, unofficial results provided by the Connecticut Secretary of State showed Somers defeating Bacchiochi by about 780 votes. Third-place finisher David Walker took 32 percent of the vote, about 1,000 votes behind Bacchiochi.[16]
Under Connecticut election law, an automatic recount is triggered if the margin separating the highest vote-getters falls within 0.5 percent of the total number of ballots cast; for Somers and Bacchiochi, that meant a difference of 1,000 votes. Bacchiochi did not want to order a recount, however, stating it would only waste time.[13] Delegates of the Connecticut Republican Party had voted to back Bacchiochi for lieutenant governor at their convention in May.[17]
Somers went on to share the ticket with GOP gubernatorial nominee Tom Foley in the general election battle against Democratic incumbents Gov. Dan Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman and the unaffiliated ticket of Joe Visconti and Chester Harris.[18]
Independent candidates
One independent candidate, Joe Visconti, appeared on the general election ballot along with Malloy and Foley. Former state Rep. and career political operative Jonathan Pelto also petitioned to run as an independent but failed to collect the minimum 7,500 signatures required to qualify for the race.[19] Pelto backed Malloy's 2010 gubernatorial campaign before breaking with the governor during his first term over his policies on education and taxes. Pelto's 2014 bid gained media attention in August when his candidate petition was signed by Ralph Nader. Nader's involvement in the Connecticut gubernatorial race raised concerns for Malloy and Democratic strategists, who accused Pelto of running in order to impact the election's outcome, not to win office.[20]
Campaign media
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Polls
| Governor of Connecticut: All candidates | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Dan Malloy* (D) | Tom Foley (R) | Joe Visconti (I) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University October 28-November 2, 2014 | 43% | 42% | 8% | 7% | +/-3.2 | 926 | |||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University October 22-27, 2014 | 43% | 43% | 7% | 7% | +/-3.4 | 838 | |||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University October 14-20, 2014 | 43% | 42% | 9% | 7% | +/-3.1 | 1,010 | |||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University October 1-6, 2014 | 43% | 43% | 9% | 5% | +/-3 | 1,085 | |||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling October 2-5, 2014 | 43% | 35% | 9% | 13% | +/-3.3 | 861 | |||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University September 3-8, 2014 | 40% | 46% | 7% | 6% | +/-2.7 | 1,304 | |||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 42.5% | 41.83% | 8.17% | 7.5% | +/-3.12 | 1,004 | |||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Governor of Connecticut: Malloy vs. Foley | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Dan Malloy* (D) | Tom Foley (R) | Undecided/Other | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| New York Times/CBS News/YouGov October 16-23, 2014 | 40% | 40% | 20% | +/-4 | 1,267 | ||||||||||||||
| Rasmussen Reports October 14-16, 2014 | 43% | 50% | 6% | +/-3 | 980 | ||||||||||||||
| New York Times/CBS News/YouGov September 20-October 1, 2014 | 41% | 41% | 18% | +/-3 | 1,284 | ||||||||||||||
| Gravis Marketing August 4-7, 2014 | 38% | 46% | 16% | +/-5.0 | 440 | ||||||||||||||
| Vox Populi July 27-28, 2014 | 35% | 34% | 27% | +/-4.2 | 550 | ||||||||||||||
| CBS/NYT/YouGov July 5-24, 2014 | 42% | 49% | 5% | +/-5.0 | 1,149 | ||||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University May 1-6, 2014 | 43% | 43% | 10% | +/-2.4 | 1,668 | ||||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University February 26-March 2, 2014 | 42% | 42% | 11% | +/-2.3 | 1,878 | ||||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University June 12-17, 2013 | 40% | 43% | 14% | +/-2.9 | 1,154 | ||||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 40.44% | 43.11% | 14.11% | +/-3.53 | 1,152.22 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
- Note: An asterisk denotes incumbent status.
2010
- Primary Election
Foley faced Michael Fedele and Oz Grieble in the Republican primary election on August 10, 2010. He won the nomination with 43.0% of the vote.[21]
- General Election
Despite drawing over 47% of the vote, Foley and running mate Mark D. Boughton were defeated by Democrats Dan Malloy and Nancy Wyman in the general election on November 2, 2010.[3]
| Governor, Lieutenant Governor, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Dan Malloy & Nancy Wyman |
49.5% | 567,278 | |
| Republican | Tom Foley & Mark Boughton | 49% | 560,874 | |
| Independent | Thomas E. Marsh & Cicero B. Booker, Jr. | 1.5% | 17,629 | |
| Total Votes | 1,145,781 | |||
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Foley's first marriage ended in divorce. Since 2009, he has been married to Leslie Fahrenkopf, a vice-president and associate general counsel at News Corporation in New York City. They have three children together as of 2014, including a college-age son, Tom Jr., as well as two-year-old twins, Grace and Reed.[4]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Tom + Foley + Connecticut + Governor
See also
- Governor of Connecticut
- Connecticut gubernatorial election, 2014
- Connecticut gubernatorial election, 2010
External links
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Tom Foley on YouTube
- Tom Foley on Flickr
- Tom Foley on Twitter
- Tomfoley2010.com 2010 Campaign website
The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine was used to recall this version of the website from November 4, 2010.
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tom Foley for Governor 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed March 14, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 NewsTimes, "Foley: Woman would have helped ticket," January 4, 2013
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Connecticut Secretary of State, "2010 General Election Results," accessed January 8, 2013
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Tom Foley for Governor 2014 Official campaign website, "Bio," accessed June 18, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 New York Times, "Weddings, Celebrations: Leslie Fahrenkopf, Thomas Foley," April 24, 2009
- ↑ YouTube: Tom Foley for CT Exploratory Committee, "Tom Foley - Wait A Second," November 11, 2013
- ↑ Connecticut News Junkie, "Malloy Makes Re-election Bid Official," March 28, 2014
- ↑ The Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections gubernatorial race ratings (2013-14)," accessed August 11, 2014
- ↑ Only in Bridgeport, "Latest Polls Show Challenging Reelection For Malloy," July 28, 2014
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2014 Governors Race Ratings," June 26, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedhour - ↑ The Wilton Daily Voice, "Wilton Republicans Head To Polls Tuesday To Pick Gubernatorial Candidate," August 11, 2014
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Eyewitness News 3, "Bacchiochi concedes GOP race for lt. governor to Somers," August 13, 2014
- ↑ The Associated Press, "Connecticut - Summary Vote Results," August 13, 2014
- ↑ NBC Connecticut, "Race results: Connecticut Primary Election," August 13, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "Statement of Vote," accessed August 13, 2014
- ↑ Washington Times, "Lieutenant governor GOP primary too close to call," August 12, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "Candidate List, 2014 General Election," accessed October 13, 2014
- ↑ theday.com, "Petition process not easy, but works," September 7, 2014
- ↑ The Hartford Courant, "Nader Signed Pelto's Petition To Get On Ballot," August 6, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "2010 Primary Election Results," accessed June 18, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "2010 General Election Results," accessed January 8, 2013
