State representative Ralph E. Van Norstrand, who was widely considered the front-runner early on in the race, dropped out on June 4 for personal reasons. Fellow state representative William H. Nickerson attempted to contest the convention, but dropped out on June 27 after it became apparent that most of the delegates from his home town of Greenwich supported businessman John T. Becker.[2]
The Republican convention was held on June 29 inside the Norwalk High School auditorium. There were 124 delegates to the convention in total. In order to win the party endorsement, a majority was needed, or 63 votes. To be able to force a primary, it required 20%, or 25 votes on any ballot.
The official vote for the first ballot was 51 for Rich, 34 for Becker, 21 for Shays, and 18 for Metsopoulos. On the second roll call, Rich's support rose to 52, Becker received 35, Shays declined to 20, and Metsopoulos garnered 17 votes. Shays' candidacy appeared in jeopardy. Then, in the pivotal move of the convention, Fairfield First Selectman Jacquelyn Durrell, a delegate who had voted as part of the unanimous Fairfield bloc for Metsopoulos, switched her vote to Shays. This move was quickly imitated by three other Fairfield delegates, and Shays suddenly had 24 votes, one short of the 25 threshold needed to force a primary. Then, Eleanor Yudain, a delegate from Stamford announced she was switching her vote from Becker to Shays "to allow a good friend a chance at a primary", giving Shays the threshold needed to contest a primary. On the third ballot, the Fairfield delegation unanimously stuck to Metsopoulos, and along with defections from Becker, it allowed him to garner 35 votes, reaching well above the threshold to enter the primary. Rich received 53, and both Becker and Shays garnerned 18. At the end of the third ballot, the convention adjourned, with four candidates advancing to the July 21 primary.[3][4]
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