New Haven Independent

As of 11:18 Friday morning, well into the third day after the Aug. 8 election, Dan Malloy (shown in photo hugging a supporter after what most people would call his loss Tuesday night) still wasn’t conceding defeat.

“It appears that John DeStefano has won the primary,” he acknowledged in a message posted on his campaign website. “It was a very close election. As such, we are waiting until the Secretary of State’s office officially certifies the results before formally conceding the election. As I understand it, there is an automatic recount provision in the law if the vote is within one half of one percent, so that could further delay a formal certification.

“Having said that, I want to be clear that if John has won, when the final count is certified, I will certainly support him in his bid for Governor, without question.”

There will be no recount, and the certification process is a mere formality that won’t change the result, according to Dan Tapper, spokesman for the Secretary of the State’s Office.

“It would appear that the Democratic primary for governor has come to an end,” Tapper said.

Tapper said he knew of no charges of irregularities or threats of legal challenges to the result.

The finally tally showed DeStefano, who’s New Haven’s mayor, defeating Malloy, who’s Stamford’s mayor, 135,430 to 131,257, or 50.8 to 49.2 percent, according to Tapper. An automatic recount is triggered if the margin is one-half of one percent or less, and no more than 1,000 votes.

Malloy failed to show up Wednesday at a Democratic Party unity rally in Hartford.

Malloy campaign spokesman Chris Cooney failed to return a call seeking comment Thursday. No humans were answering the phone at the “campaign” headquarters Friday morning.

No word on whether Malloy might try to join the newly formed “Connecticut for Lieberman Party,” which U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman created so that he could run in the general election now that he lost the Democratic primary to Ned Lamont.

Malloy’s running mate in the primary, lieutenant governor candidate Mary Glassman, won her primary election. So she’s running with DeStefano now. She, too, was AWOL at Wednesday’s “unity” rally. But Thursday she and DeStefano appeared together at a joint campaign event in Simsbury. “I’m thrilled by all the shared support and pledge to work hard at getting John DeStefano elected as the next governor of Connecticut,” Glassman said in a statement released by the DeStefano campaign. “The Democratic Party is a big tent — there’s a lot of room for everyone inside. We share a set of values centered on health care, jobs, and ideas. We have a head start in the race of ideas.”