By Emily Cadei, CQ-Roll Call

As tempting a target as Sen. Christopher J. Dodd is for Republicans in 2010, one Connecticut candidate has decided to skip a crowded Senate primary and instead run for governor.

Businessman Tom Foley confirmed Thursday that he will drop his bid for the GOP nomination to run against Dodd and instead go after the state’s open seat for governor.

Foley, a fundraiser for President George W. Bush and former ambassador to Ireland, sent an e-mail telling supporters that he made the decision after speaking to more than 100 people and receiving hundreds of e-mails encouraging him to switch races.

Foley may have an easier time standing out as a candidate for governor because a strong contender has yet to emerge for the GOP.

Contrast that to the race for Senate, where Foley and four Republicans had been running hard and one of the contenders, Linda McMahon, has expressed a willingness to spend up to $50 million of her own money.

That lopsided financial edge gives McMahon an advantage that one activist likened to carrying “an elephant gun into a mouse fight.”

Republican state Sen. Sam Caligiuri already dropped out of the primary race, now leaving McMahon to face only former Rep. Rob Simmons and investor Peter Schiff.

Dodd, a five-term Democrat, has been taking a beating in public opinion polls.

The governorship is open in Connecticut because incumbent Jodi Rell has decided not to run.

CQ Politics rates both races as Tossups.