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Malloy Defends His Record At Chamber Meeting As He Trails In Poll

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Polls have shown him trailing far behind in the past only for him to win on Election Day, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Friday in an appearance in Stamford as he shrugged off a recent poll that shows him trailing his Republic gubernatorial challenger Tom Foley.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy defends his record while speaking at the Stamford Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting Friday.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy defends his record while speaking at the Stamford Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting Friday.

Photo Credit: Frank MacEachern

"Polls come and polls go," Malloy told about 200 people at Stamford Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting at the Hilton Stamford Hotel on Friday. He recounted his electoral history, which saw him trailing in many races only to triumph on Election Day.

Malloy, a Stamford native and former city mayor, said he prides himself on always doing what is in the best long-term interest of the state. He said he made a decision how he was would govern after he was elected governor in 2010.

"The decision was that I was not going to do anything for the purposes of getting re-elected that inhibited my ability to do the right thing on a long-term basis for the state," he said. "So that's what we're doing. If folks want to change the captain, I understand that."

He pointed to his handling of transportation issues as an example of his vow.

Malloy said that had disgraced former Republican Gov. John Rowland spent money on improving the transportation system during his administration, it would have been in much better shape many years earlier.

Instead, Malloy said his administration has had to come up with the money for projects that weren't begun under the Rowland administration. Funding transportation improvements is in the state's best long-term interest, Malloy said.

The state has enjoyed a rebound in employment under his administration, he said, with job creation growing quickly since 2010.

"Connecticut has created more jobs per capita than any other state in New England," he said.

His Republican opponents, including Foley, continue to paint a negative picture of the economy that doesn't jibe with the facts, Malloy said.

"What campaigns have come about, and maybe I am as guilty as other folks about this, is who can say the worst in the shortest number of words."

The most recent Quinnipaic Poll shows Malloy trailing Foley by 6 points, with the Republican challenger at 46 percent vs. 40 percent for the Democratic incumbent. An unscientific poll of Daily Voice readers shows Foley at 63 percent vs. Malloy at 38 percent. 

Read more about the poll here on the Daily Voice.

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