The RGA reports:
Rhode Island Democrat Governor Gina Raimondo received some unwelcome news last night when her predecessor, Democrat Governor Lincoln Chafee, further fanned speculation that he may seek to challenge her in the state’s 2018 Democrat primary. Chafee has spent months feuding with Raimondo, openly criticizing her failed record in numerous radio and TV interviews. The news comes as Raimondo faces low approval ratings, bipartisan criticism of her handling of a scandal-plagued state agency, “anemic” job growth, and even talk of unseating her as the Democrat nominee by some of her big labor allies. As Raimondo desperately tries to boost her waning popularity through phony PR events while ignoring Rhode Island’s challenges, it‘s clear that she faces an increasingly tough road to re-election with even members of her own party seeking to oust her from office in 2018.
Former Gov. Lincoln Chafee is still mulling whether to challenge his successor Gina Raimondo in the 2018 election, but he has made one decision – there would be a “D” next to his name if he jumps into the race.
“I’m a Democrat,” Chafee told Eyewitness News in an interview Monday.
Therefore, Chafee said, if he decides to enter the governor’s race he would run against Raimondo, a first-term Democrat, in next September’s party primary. “That would be the plan,” he said.
Chafee won election to the U.S. Senate as a Republican in 2000, then won the governor’s office as an independent in 2010, only to join the Democratic Party in 2013. He declined to seek re-election as governor in 2014, but surprised many the following year when he decided to seek the Democratic presidential nomination. He exited the White House race soon after the first debate.
Some had speculated that if Chafee were to run for governor in 2018 he might do so as an independent rather than a Democrat, giving him the chance to pull left-leaning voters away from Raimondo in the general election. She is planning to seek re-election, though she has not officially kicked off her campaign.
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