Political career in Rhode Island Chafee's father,
John Chafee, was the senior United States senator from Rhode Island, who had intended to retire, and not seek reelection in
2000; Lincoln had intended to run to win his father's seat the same year. On October 24, 1999, John Chafee died, and Republican Governor
Lincoln Almond appointed his son, then a Republican to fill the vacancy of his Republican father. Due to the proximity between his appointment and the scheduled election in 2000, no special election was called. Chafee was elected to his seat outright with a large majority. Having been seen as the most
liberal Republican senator, Chafee was faced with a tough primary battle against Steve Laffey in
2006, which he won by a 54 to 46 percent margin. His battle with Laffey in the primary excessively drained his campaign funds. Chafee lost to Democrat
Sheldon Whitehouse, and was one of six Republican seats lost when Democrats regained their majority in the
midterm elections of 2006. After his Senate loss, Chafee left the Republican Party, saying, "it's not my party anymore". After a hiatus following his loss, he announced his candidacy for Governor of Rhode Island; in a
seven-way race, Chafee won the governorship with 36 percent of the vote. Having previously indicated the possibility that he might run for re-election for Governor as a Democrat, Chafee officially joined the Democratic Party on May 30, 2013. He chose against running for re-election in
2014.
Presidential politics In the
2008 presidential election, he formally endorsed the Democratic nominee
Barack Obama. In
2012, Chafee was one of 35 co-chairs selected to serve on President Barack Obama's
re-election campaign. On April 9, 2015, Chafee announced that he had formed an
exploratory committee in preparation for a potential candidacy for the Democratic Party's 2016 presidential nomination. The following month, on May 29, it was confirmed that Chafee would announce his decision regarding a 2016 presidential bid on June 3. ==Campaign==