The University of Connecticut announced Tuesday it has canceled the Oct. 20 gubernatorial forum planned in cooperation with the Connecticut Daily Newspapers Association because Republican candidate Tom Foley declined to attend the event.

Democrat Dan Malloy and Independent Party candidate Thomas Marsh had agreed to participate, but UConn spokesman Michael Kirk said organizers only planned to hold the event if all three candidates were involved.

Foley campaign spokeswoman Liz Osborn said the UConn event conflicted with other events on the campaign schedule, but added that Foley has participated in or committed to 15 debates or other candidate forums.

The debate had been scheduled for 7 p.m., Oct. 20, in the Student Union Theater on the university’s main campus in Storrs. No alternative date will be scheduled, Kirk said.

Keith has spent most of his 31 years as a reporter specializing in state government finances, analyzing such topics as income tax equity, waste in government and the complex funding systems behind Connecticut’s transportation and social services networks. He has been the state finances reporter at CT Mirror since it launched in 2010. Prior to joining CT Mirror Keith was State Capitol bureau chief for The Journal Inquirer of Manchester, a reporter for the Day of New London, and a former contributing writer to The New York Times. Keith is a graduate of and a former journalism instructor at the University of Connecticut.

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