RIP: Dick Foley

Republican fixture Dick Foley has died. Foley served in the House of Representatives for a decade, beginning in 1982, from the Naugatuck Valley.

He was elected to the job he enjoyed most, chairman of the state’s Republican Party organization, in 1989. Foley came to grief in 1993 when he was indicted on a corruption charge arising out of banking legislation and a $25,000 bribe paid to Foley to influence legislation. He was convicted by a federal jury later that year. His sentence was overturned on appeal, but not before he served time in prison.

Foley returned to politics as a lobbyist and prolific campaign consultant. Foley, who lived in Danbury at the time of his death, mounted a brief campaign for state chairman in 2019.