Although unaffiliated candidate for governor Joe Visconti has suspended his campaign and thrown his support behind GOP candidate Tom Foley, Visconti's name will remain on the ballot and the endorsement has no bearing on his official status in the race, according to Secretary of the State Denise Merrill.
“The machines have already been calibrated,” Merrill explained. “The ballots have been printed and ordered, so he will remain on the ballot and those votes will be tallied.”
Visconti, who petitioned his way onto the ballot by gathering more than 10,000 signatures from registered Connecticut voters, endorsed Foley on Sunday in a surprise announcement in Brookfield and asked his supporters to vote for Foley instead.
"We put the message out that we wanted and hopefully my people will come out, come over, because we have a lot of them,” Visconti said during an exclusive interview with NBC Connecticut’s George Colli on Sunday.
Merrill said her office communicated with Visconti's campaign, and the unaffiliated candidate made it clear that he was not altogether withdrawing. According to the Secretary of the State, the laws are vague when it comes to removing a candidate from the ballot.
Nevertheless, Merrill said "it would have had to happen a long time ago" in order to pull Visconti's name from the ballot on Tuesday.
Foley welcomed the endorsement from Visconti, who has billed himself as a “conservative alternative” on issues like guns and education.
"He doesn't want Gov. Malloy reelected. He wants me elected. He thinks Connecticut needs change. He realized that he could help make that happen by endorsing me, which I am grateful for," Foley said, during a campaign stop in Vernon.
When asked how he expects Visconti's endorsement to factor into the election, Gov. Dan Malloy said matter-of-factly that he didn't think it would make a significant difference with just hours to go until the polls open.
"He's on the ballot; the ballot was printed," Malloy said. "A lot of people will vote for Visconti. There's a reason they weren't voting for Tom Foley to begin with."
A Quinnipiac University Poll released Monday shows Malloy leading Foley with 47-44 percent of support from likely voters. Seven percent remain undecided.
