Ebong Udoma

In Connecticut, Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy is getting help from high profile Obama administration officials for his campaign for reelection. U.S. Labor Secretary Tom Perez made several campaign stops with Malloy in eastern Connecticut on Friday.

The governor is a friend of the administration, Perez said, on a telephone conversation while traveling with Malloy. He said Malloy is someone who’s been able to implement initiatives important to the White House including pushing Connecticut to be the first state to pass a law raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

The latest Connecticut gubernatorial TV debate was overshadowed by the elephant who was not in the room — Republican candidate Tom Foley. 

Foley was a no show at WVIT’s 7 p.m. debate Thursday night even though the station left a seat on the stage open for him until 6:45. Foley’s campaign spokesman said he was instead taping a segment for a Sunday talk show on a rival TV station.

That left the stage to Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy and petitioning candidate Joe Visconti.

Tom Foley, the Republican candidate for governor in Connecticut, is expected to be a no show at tonight’s televised debate on Connecticut’s NBC affiliate. It’s the second debate in which all three candidates on the state’s gubernatorial ballot are invited.

He’s not taking part tonight because his campaign’s negotiation with the NBC affiliate did not go well, Foley said on WNPR’s Where We Live program on Wednesday.

Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy of Connecticut and his Republican challenger, Greenwich businessman Tom Foley, are both pledging not to cut state aid to towns and cities.

The candidates, who are in a close race, spoke at the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities convention on Tuesday.

Malloy reminded the municipal leaders that he’s kept a promise he made when he was first elected four years ago and looked out for towns and cities.

“The difference between us and other states is we did not balance our budget on the back of our local communities,” he said.

The Connecticut Democratic Party is calling on Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley to give more details about his tax returns.

Foley made a summary of his 2013 tax return available on Friday. It showed that Foley paid $673 in federal taxes for that year.

The wealthy businessman from Greenwich spent $11 million of his own money on his first run for governor in 2010.  

The 2013 tax summary shows that Foley had alimony payments to his first wife and reported business losses of about $117,000. His only federal tax liability was a $673 self-employment tax.