Hartford - The state's Republicans continued their streak of choosing political outsiders, voting at Saturday's convention at the Connecticut Convention Center to endorse Tom Foley, a businessman from Greenwich.

"I try to distinguish myself from career politicians," Foley said, speaking to reporters from the convention floor as his victory was announced. "I'm doing this at a point in my career where I want to give back, and I appreciate all the things that have gone well for me and made me as fortunate as I could be. So for me, this is a way to give back."

Foley garnered the support of the majority of delegates, receiving 710 votes.

Foley, with his wife and son at his side, said his priority as governor would be to improve the state's economy and keep businesses in Connecticut.

"We need to restore jobs in Connecticut and get the economy going," Foley said. "We need to reduce the size and cost of our state government, and we need to make this a state where our young people want to be and our businesses want to be and feel comfortable staying here and employing people."

Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, with 427 votes, and businessman Oz Griebel, with 243 votes, each received enough support to challenge Foley in a primary.

Candidate Lawrence DeNardis, a former congressman and the retired president of the University of New Haven, released his delegates midway through the first vote, most of them moving to support Foley. He ended the day with 16 votes. C. Duffy Acevedo, a Branford mortgage broker, received 5 votes.

Foley, who said he expected to spend $8 million to $12 million of his own money to finance his campaign, presented himself both as a political outsider and a candidate with the experience to run the state.

"I've spent 25 years as an executive, and our democracy tends to graduate legislators into executive roles," Foley said. "That's sort of like taking somebody out of a Major League Baseball team and putting them on the PGA tour. It might work, but it probably won't.

"I actually have executive and problem-solving experience, and that's what the role of the governor is."

Foley said he was not picking a lieutenant governor candidate as a running mate, but acknowledged that he had asked Lenny Winkler to enter the race.

Griebel too presented himself as an outsider candidate, telling reporters that he planned to meet with Republican voters across the state over the course of the summer.

"As I've said to several of you in the past, this is a small state so retail politics still matter, so a lot of what we've done in the last 12 weeks we're just going to repeat again to broaden out the base of people we're reaching to," Griebel said

But Griebel also described himself as a well-connected candidate with business and political connections that would serve the state well.

"I have very broad business relationships all around the state, very broad relationships in the political process," he said. "Yeah, I'm an outsider from an elected standpoint, but I know how the system works."

Lt. Gov. Fedele said he had always expected to have to compete in a primary race for the Republican governor's nomination.

"When we came into this, we always believed there was going to be a primary; it just depended on what side of the line you were going to be on," Fedele told reporters. "And clearly, I think you've seen the numbers and we're not the endorsed candidate, but we're going to be on the ballot. We had a very strong showing for that."

He reminded reporters that when he was first elected, in 1992, he had upset an incumbent with the party's endorsement to win a seat in the General Assembly.

Fedele also said that his reputation as a legislator was a key factor in his candidacy, saying he would continue to fight for the causes he championed when he started his career. That record, not deep pockets, would bring him success in the primary, he said.

"If you look at spending $2.5 million to get 710 votes, I think the business investment isn't very good," Fedele said. "I can tell you that, as we go through this primary and as we go to November, that substance of a man's character and their ability to get their message out is far greater than the substance of their wallet."

Saturday's events moved at a snail's pace, with votes for each state office taking about two hours apiece. After each delegation had the opportunity to cast their votes, delegates had the opportunity to change their votes, a process made difficult by the near-constant noise and hubbub in the convention hall.

Lieutenant governor

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton received his party's endorsement for lieutenant governor, recieving votes from 687 delegates. In his speech to the convention, Boughton said he was frustrated by the current state of Connecticut government.

"As I traveled, I've listened to your concerns," Boughton said. "And I'm here to tell you that come January, business as usual at the Capitol will end."

Lisa Wilson-Foley, a businesswoman from Hartford, trailed Boughton with 258 votes, earning a spot on the primary ballot.

From the convention floor, Norwich mayor Peter Nystrom nominated former state Rep. Lenny Winkler of Groton as a candidate for lieutenant governor, but opposition from other delegates prevented him from speaking in her favor. In an interview earlier in the convention, Winkler said she was running to bring more representation to the eastern side of the state.

"There's no one on the ballot from the 2nd Congressional District, and I think that's a big mistake," Winkler said. "I think things need to be demographically correct."

Though Winkler was counted as a candidate alongside Wilson-Foley and Boughton, she received little support from the delegates, receiving 90 votes - mostly from Eastern Connecticut, and not enough to land a spot on the primary ballot.

Attorney general

Lawyer Martha Dean won her party's nomination in a drawn-out, four-way race for the attorney general nod - a post held by Democrats since 1959. With 644 votes, she won the support of just over 50 percent of delegates.

Speaking after a long, unexplained break in the convention, Dean's remarks were brief: "Thank you God, thank you Connecticut Republicans," she said. "That's my very short speech. Thank you."

The second-place finisher, Ross Garber, received 454 votes, far more than the 15 percent required to force a primary. Arthur O'Neill, with 46 votes, and Kie Westby, with 20 votes, did not garner enough support to earn a spot on the primary ballot.

Comptroller

In the convention's sole uncontested race, Republicans voted by acclamation to endorse comptroller candidate Jack Orchulli.

Secretary of the state

Jerry Farrell, the state commissioner of consumer protection, received his party's endorsement for the secretary of the state post.

"Connecticut needs jobs - that means small businesses," Farrell said during a brief address to the convention. "Government doesn't create jobs, but it can help those who want to. And as Secretary of the State, I want to."

Farrell received votes from 787 delegates. Corey Brinson, the commissioner of the state's Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, received 500 votes, enough to qualify for a primary. His campaign said Brinson would announce on Monday whether he would run.

As secretary of the state, Farrell said he would reduce the amount of paperwork that state agencies needed to complete, as well as cut back on the forms individuals would need to complete to start a business.

"I have done this as consumer protector," Farrell said. "I will be doing this as secretary of the state."

Treasurer

Newington Mayor Jeff Wright received the endorsement for treasurer, pledging to be Connecticut's "cash cop."

Wright, who received 1,078 votes, attacked the record of the current treasurer, Democrat Denise Nappier, who has held the post for 12 years. He said the state pension fund is "drastically short on cash and assets" and said state debt poses a major danger to Connecticut's economy.

"It's unacceptable to be this far off where we should be," Wright said. "All this neglect and incompetence has resulted in a tsunami of red ink."

Andrew White, the other candidate seeking the endorsement for treasurer, received 105 votes, not enough support to force a primary.