It doesn't happen very frequently but the Associated Press has withdrawn its call in favor of Democrat Daniel Malloy in the Connecticut governor's race as GOP candidate Tom Foley surprisingly surged ahead late.
But - no surprise - late word from Democratic stronghold in New Haven is that the count has been slow in being reported which led to Foley's surge.
How big a margin is Malloy's total from New Haven?
Democrat Dannel Malloy got about 18,600 more votes in New Haven than Republican Tom Foley, a total that could be enough to win the governor's race.The Courant obtained totals from the New Haven Registrars of Voters that show Malloy had 22,298 votes, compared to Foley's 3,685.
Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said she will have official results in the governor's race later today. In a radio interview Thursday morning, she said discrepancies in earlier reports likely have to do with incomplete totals in New Haven.
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Those totals could push Malloy to a victory outside the recount margin of 2,000 votes, she said.
Malloy was declared the winner of the dead-heat governor's race Wednesday by Bysiewicz, but the Florida-style election is not over: Foley not only refused to concede Wednesday, he claimed victory.
Bysiewicz said Wednesday that Malloy won by an unofficial margin of 3,100 votes - and that state law allows recounts in statewide races only when the margin is lower than 2,000 votes.
The most recent vote totals posted online by The Associated Press, which on Wednesday withdrew its call that Malloy had won the race, now mirror the numbers reported by the New Haven Registrars of Voters.
Those are Chicago style percentages in favor of a Democratic candidate. Reminds me of the old story about the 1960 presidential election. JFK and Nixon were neck and neck in Illinois as both the Chicago machine and downstate Republicans were trying to steal the election for their candidate. Finally, around 3:00 AM, a Daley operative reportedly called into JFK headquarters and asked "How many votes do you need?" As if by magic, the Chicago cemeteries emptied and JFK won by about 3,000 votes.
Someone check the New Haven morgue and make sure the dead aren't walking.
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