A federal judge sitting in Bridgeport has denied gubernatorial candidate Thomas Foley's request for a court order blocking state elections officials from distributing hundreds of thousands of dollars in supplemental money under the state's campaign finance laws to Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, his opponent in the August 10, Republican gubernatorial primary.
Had U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill acceded to Foley's request, the decision would have set in motion a chain of legal events that some legal experts believe would have rendered inoperative - in the middle of a highly competitive campaign season - the landmark state law creating a public financing system for political campaigns.
In seeking the court order, Foley sued the State Elections Enforcement Commission and other state officials, who are listed as defendants in the case. Foley sought a restraining order that would have blocked release of campaign money to Fedele and his running mate, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton.
Underhill's decision says, in conclusion:
"Thomas C. Foley and Foley for Governor, Inc. have failed to establish that the state
defendants will cause them irreparable harm and that a temporary restraining order will further the public interest. The plaintiffs have also failed to make those same demonstrations with respect to the committee defendants, and also have not shown that they are likely to succeed on the merits. The plaintiffs are therefore not entitled to a temporary restraining order enjoining the state defendants from granting excess expenditure matching funds to the Fedele and Boughton campaign committees, or enjoining the committee defendants from spending those matching funds."