HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Republican Tom Foley on Wednesday conceded defeat to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in the Connecticut governor's race, a bruising and expensive rematch of the 2010 contest in a state where many voters remain unhappy with the economy and the Democrat's tax increases.
After telling supporters on election night that he had probably lost, Foley send an email message to supporters saying they came close but Malloy had won. He said his campaign fared better in cities than he did in 2010 when he first lost to Malloy, but lost ground elsewhere because of what he called "relentless negative advertising."
"I regret that I will not be able to deliver the dream you and I share for restoring pride and prosperity in Connecticut," Foley said.
Foley spoke to Malloy on Wednesday afternoon by phone and offered his congratulations, according to Malloy campaign spokesman Mark Bergman.
With 95 percent of precincts reporting on Wednesday afternoon, Malloy was leading with 50.5 percent of the vote, compared to 48.5 percent for Foley.
The race had been among a handful of gubernatorial battles in the country where national Republicans saw an opportunity to oust an incumbent Democrat. Outside groups for and against the governor pumped millions of dollars into a barrage of negative television ads.
In 2010, Malloy defeated Foley, a Greenwich businessman and former U.S. ambassador to Ireland, by 6,404 votes out of 1.1 million cast.
Malloy, 59, came under attack during this campaign for raising taxes by $2.6 billion over two years to help close a $3.6 billion deficit. Foley, 62, repeatedly accused Malloy of making Connecticut unfriendly to business.
Malloy's campaign focused heavily on Foley's record as a businessman, accusing him of putting profits ahead of people when he ran two companies. Malloy often dropped in references to Foley's yacht and mansion, criticized him for not paying federal income taxes for several years and claimed he was out of touch with the concerns of everyday voters.
The governor's personality became an issue in the race, with Foley casting Malloy as a know-it-all with a "prosecutorial personality."
The governor told voters, in essence, that he may be prickly but he gets things done. Malloy pointed to legislative achievements such as a minimum-wage increase and his leadership through several major storms and the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Among the outside groups that poured money into the race were opponents and supporters of the gun control law that Connecticut adopted in 2013 after Sandy Hook. Foley had criticized the law as too burdensome on gun owners. In the final days of the campaign, gun rights advocate Joe Visconti, who ran as an independent as failing to get the GOP nomination, threw his support to Foley.
Some of the attacks in the race were bitterly personal. In one debate, Foley brought up an investigation by prosecutors into Malloy, the former mayor of Stamford, and whether city contractors received preferential treatment in return for doing work on Malloy's house. Malloy was ultimately cleared.
In the same debate, Malloy brought up Foley's past arrests, including one for an episode in which his wife accused him of trying to drive her and their son off a road in 1993 amid a protracted divorce and custody battle. Foley denied the accusation.
"I never drove my wife off a road," Malloy told reporters after the debate.
Elsewhere in the state, Democrats retained control of all five congressional seats.
Meanwhile, Democrat George Jepsen won his second term as attorney general, defeating Republican Kie Westby of Southbury and Green Party candidate Stephen Fournier of Hartford.
Connecticut's General Assembly will soon have a Kennedy among its ranks. Democrat Ted Kennedy Jr., son of the late Massachusetts U.S. senator, won the 12th state senatorial district along the state's shoreline. He defeated Republican businessman Bruce Wilson Jr. Additionally, House Republicans reported expanding their ranks by at least 10 seats, for a total of 64 - the largest caucus in years. Democrats will still retain control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The results of a statewide ballot question about changing the state's constitution to ease voting restrictions remained uncertain. If approved, state officials would be allowed to consider early voting options including expanded use of absentee ballots and voting by mail.
