2014 Connecticut Gov - Foley vs. Malloy vs. Visconti

Two-Way Race: Foley vs. Malloy

Race Analysis

11/4/14 -- Independent Joe Visconti, who had been drawing large shares of the vote in polls, withdrew his name from consideration and endorsed Foley. His name remains on the ballot, so it isn't entirely clear how this will affect voting today. But the race is close enough that even small shifts in voting could make a difference.

11/3/14 -- The final polls show some movement toward Malloy. This could still go either way, but it seems like the state's fundamental partisan lean is kicking in.

10/19/14 -- The pollsters really can't seem to agree on where this race stands. It still looks like a tossup overall, although the state's overall tilt suggests that Malloy probably retains an edge.

10/7/14 -- PPP delivered some good news for Malloy. This race is close, but Foley has to make inroads with some pretty Democratic voters to get to 50 percent plus one.

----------Race Preview----------

Governors races tend to be the least partisan contests out there. This explains why, even after the GOP debacle of 2006, Republicans still controlled half of the New England governorships. In fact, the 2010 elections marked the first time Democrats managed to win the Connecticut governorship since 1986, when William O'Neill trounced the Republican by almost 17 points.

Republican Jodi Rell took the helm in July of 2004 after John Rowland resigned amid a fraud scandal. Rell seemingly acquitted herself well in the job, and romped to an easy re-election in the bad Republican year of 2006. She was mentioned as a potential running mate for John McCain, who chose Sarah Palin instead. Rell announced that she would not run for a second full term in 2010, leaving a wide open field.

That race was won by Dannel Malloy over Tom Foley by a margin of less than half a point. Foley ran well in the traditional Republican suburban areas, but Malloy swamped him in the urban areas. Malloy has had a controversial tenure in office, and Foley is back for a second go-round, doing much better in the polls.