Thomas C. Foley

Foley endorsed Chris Christie in the 2016 Republican primaries.

Foley won the Republican nomination for governor on May 17, 2014, securing more than 57% of the delegates. He faced Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton and Senate Minority Leader John McKinney of Fairfield in the August primary. Foley said that he and McKinney, his main rival, agreed to forgo any negative campaigning during the primary to avoid weakening the Republicans' general election candidate, and then later accused McKinney of violating that pledge when the campaign took a negative turn. On June 3, 2014, Foley announced that he would accept public financing.

On August 12, 2014, Foley won the primary against McKinney by almost 10,000 votes, winning in every county.

In July 2014, Foley gave a press conference criticizing Malloy outside Fusion Paperboard, a paper mill that had just been closed by its owners. Foley defended the owners' decision to close the plant and told the local first selectman and several union leaders, "You want to blame people who are hundreds or thousands of miles away, malign management. Listen, you have failed, because you have lost these jobs." He said that Malloy was to blame because of "anti-business policies... things like mandatory sick leave, raising energy costs, uhhh, just the negative signals he sends out."

Foley was criticized by his opponent for paying no federal income tax for 2011 and 2012 and only $673 for 2013. He explained that he typically has no taxable personal income unless one of the companies he owns is sold at a profit, which had not happened in those years. In the 2010 campaign, Foley released tax returns showing he paid federal and state taxes in 2008 and 2009 exceeding $800,000.

As of 2010, NTC's principal remaining portfolio investment is Stevens Aviation, a provider to general aviation operators of fueling and other line services, maintenance, modification, and refurbishment work, as well as aircraft sales. Stevens is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. The company has locations in Dayton, Ohio, Nashville, Tennessee, and Denver, Colorado, in addition to its two locations in Greenville.

In its endorsement of Foley for the 2010 Connecticut governor's race, the Irish Voice said, "Foley is a former Ambassador to Ireland who performed great service there and is fondly remembered."

On May 22, 2010, Foley received the Republican Party's endorsement at the state convention. Two other candidates, Lieutenant Governor Michael Fedele and Simsbury businessman Nelson "Oz" Griebel, also received sufficient support from delegates to qualify for an August 10, 2010, primary.

In the August 10 state Republican primary, Foley defeated challengers Fedele and Griebel to become the official Republican candidate for governor in 2010.

In June, 2009, Foley announced that he would run for the U.S. Senate in 2010 against incumbent Christopher Dodd. However, following the surprise announcement by Republican governor Jodi Rell that she would not seek a second term, Foley announced on December 3, 2009, that he was leaving the Senate race to run for Governor of Connecticut.

Foley worked with Robert Tuttle, U.S. Ambassador to the U.K., and special envoy Paula Dobriansky to re-establish the devolved government in Northern Ireland under the Good Friday Agreement and to stimulate investment there. He was present in Belfast on May 8, 2007, when the new government of Northern Ireland was sworn in.

From October 2006 to January 2009, Foley was the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, appointed by President George W. Bush. Foley served as ambassador at a time when U.S. foreign policy was unpopular in Ireland. He directed his public diplomacy efforts mostly toward an improved understanding of U.S. foreign policy goals and shared interests with Ireland.

Foley has served in national government twice. From August 2003 through March 2004, Foley served in Iraq as the director of private sector development for the Coalition Provisional Authority. Foley's responsibilities included overseeing most of Iraq's 192 state-owned enterprises, stimulating private sector growth, developing foreign trade and investment, and overseeing three state Ministries. Foley received the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award in June 2004 for his service in Iraq.

In 1994, at the age of 42, Foley was suddenly afflicted with Bell's palsy. The condition partly paralyzed the right side of his face. Foley can only smile with the left side of his mouth; his right eye is partially closed.

In 2009, Foley married Leslie Fahrenkopf, who was 41 and vice president for global ethics and compliance and an associate general counsel at News Corporation in New York City at the time of their wedding. From 2003 to 2008, Fahrenkopf had been an associate counsel to President George W. Bush in the Office of White House Counsel. Foley has a son Tom, Jr. (born October 25, 1990) and he and Leslie have boy and girl twins, Grace Quinlan and William Reed (born September 26, 2011).

Foley first worked at McKinsey & Company and then at Citicorp Venture Capital. He left CVC to found NTC Group, a private investment company, in 1985. That year, NTC Group (also known as National Textile Corp) purchased the Bibb Company in Macon, Georgia. NTC purchased T.B. Woods Sons Company in 1986 and Stevens Aviation in 1989. NTC sold its interest in Bibb in 1996. In April 2007, T.B. Woods was sold to ALTRA Holdings. Woods, a manufacturing company headquartered in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, had operations in North America, Germany, Italy, and India, 2005 revenue of about $110.9 million and about 830 employees.

Foley's Democratic opponents in the general election initially tried to draw attention to Foley's two arrests related to motor vehicle incidents. The first was in 1981, in Southampton, New York, and the second in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1993. No charges were filed after the arrests and the matters related to both incidents were dismissed. The state Democratic Party Communications Director who was leading the effort to attract attention to the incidents was let go in early 2014 and Foley's opponents’ primary messaging switched to Foley's wealth and that he was out of touch with workers.

Thomas Coleman Foley (born January 9, 1952) is an American politician and businessman. He served as the United States Ambassador to Ireland from 2006 to 2009 and was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Governor of Connecticut in 2010 and 2014.