Democrat Richard Blumenthal spent the past few days apologizing to voters and trying to put behind him the taint of being caught embellishing his service in the Marine Reserves.

“I have firmly and clearly expressed regret and taken responsibility for my words,” Blumenthal said in a note e-mailed to the Hartford Courant. “I have made mistakes and I am sorry.”

He continued to express remorse in interviews as he made public appearances Monday.

Blumenthal, the frontrunner in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Chris Dodd (D), was thrown off balance by a New York Times story last week that chronicled instances where he appeared to overstate his military service.

Republicans called the story a “game changer” in the open-seat race.

In the runup to the state Democratic convention over the weekend, many political observers wondered if the revelations would rile delegates enough for businessman Merrick Alpert to garner enough support to force Blumenthal into a primary.

But as delegate voting got under way Friday, Alpert withdrew his name from consideration.