Hartford - The three Republican candidates for Connecticut governor made their pitches to voters Wednesday in the final debate before next week's primary.

Greenwich businessman Tom Foley, Lt. Gov. Mike Fedele and Hartford-area business advocate Oz Griebel appeared in the televised debate, sponsored by WFSB-TV and Connecticut Public Broadcasting.

During the hourlong matchup, the candidates attempted to draw distinctions among themselves for Republican voters, who are being bombarded with campaign advertising for numerous races besides governor before the Aug. 10 primary.

Griebel spoke of his 17 years of business and civic experience in the state and "lack of political baggage," referring to the critical TV ads both Foley and Fedele are running about each other. Foley said he could provide new leadership and a new direction for the state, while Fedele said he brings both business and government experience to the job.

As in past debates, Foley and Fedele, who lead Griebel in public opinion polls, continued to spar with each other over their respective business and government backgrounds.

Foley accused Fedele, Gov. M. Jodi Rell's running mate in 2006, of presiding over major job losses in Connecticut and dramatic increases in the size and cost of the state government, which is projected to have a deficit of more than $3 billion next year.

"Frankly, we need a new sense of direction, new leadership," Foley said.

But Fedele shot back, saying it's the governor, not the lieutenant governor, who proposes and vetoes state budgets. In addition, he said the 100,000 jobs lost in Connecticut are the result of a global economic meltdown.

"Blaming me for that, and putting that at my feet is like saying Al Gore invented the Internet," Fedele said.

As in past debates, Foley took issue with Fedele's TV ads that accuse him of bankrupting Bibb Manufacturing Co., a textile company in Georgia that went out of business in 1998. Foley called the ads "absolutely false" and said the people appearing in the ads were not Bibb employees, "were treated to a sumptuous lunch" and were handed scripts.

Fedele did not respond to the charge during the debate. But afterward, his campaign manager, Jim Conroy, said Foley's accusations are false.

"Tom Foley owes these folks a public apology for his unfounded attempt to smear their credibility," he said.

During the debate, Fedele took a few shots at Foley for being out of the country, saying he was "missing in action" while serving as the U.S. ambassador to Ireland. By not being in Connecticut, he said, Foley didn't understand the Rell administration has had to face an overwhelming Democratic majority in the General Assembly.

Griebel stressed that his experience as the former CEO of BankBoston Connecticut and president and CEO of the MetroHartford Alliance has all been while working and living in Connecticut. He said that's helped him build relationships across the state with key people that can be tapped when he's governor and help him turn around the state's fortunes.

Foley, who worked for the U.S. government in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, helping privatize many of the country's government-controlled businesses, said he was surprised by the criticism of his foreign experience.

"I don't believe either of my opponents has served his country overseas so I consider that an asset and not a liability," he said.