Rhode Island Senate Race

Incumbent	Jack Reed
Party	Democrat
Seeking Re-election?	Yes
Candidate Website	Senate Website
Fundraising Link	ActBlue
Contribution Data	FEC
Other Resources	Congresspedia profile on Jack Reed

Potential Challenger	Lincoln Chafee
Party	GOP? Independent?
Source of Information	Speculation
Candidate Website

Potential Challenger	Stephen A. Laffey
Party	Republican - Lost GOP challenge to Lincoln Chafee in 2006
Source of Information	Speculation in CQ
Candidate Website	None at this time

Background Information

Rhode Island's Democratic Senator Jack Reed was first elected to the US Senate in 1997, after serving several terms in the US House of Representatives. Reed is considered fairly liberal and will likely be seeking re-election to a third term in the Senate, come 2008. Rhode Island, a north-eastern state, is considered "safe blue."

Lincoln Chafee, former Republican Senator Rhode Island, lost his race for re-election in 2006 to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse. Although Chafee was a liberal Republican (and despite massive NRSC expenditures in the race), he ultimately lost because 2006 was a clear anti-Republican year, in north eastern states as least.

After his loss, Chafee made statements suggesting he may leave the Republican party, leading some to speculate that he may challenge Reed for Rhode Island's other Senate seat in 2008 as an independent. He has made no statements concerning another possible run, however publicly saying that he may switch party affiliations does seem to suggest that he intends to remain involved in Rhode Island politics. Two days after the November 7th election, the Associated Press reported:

"I haven't made any decisions. I just haven't even thought about where my place is," Chafee said at a news conference. When pressed on whether his comments indicated he might leave the GOP, he replied: "That's fair."
[...]
Chafee said he has not decided what to do after leaving office, but he hoped to stay involved in public life. He said his loss may have helped the country by switching control of Congress.

"The people have spoken all across America. They want the Democrats and Republicans to work together," he said. "I think the president now is going to have to talk to the Democrats. I think that's going to be good for America."

According to the latest SurveyUSA polling (November 22, 2006) Reed is popular among his constituents, with 66% approving, and 27% not. 51% approved of outgoing Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee during the same polling period.

Resources

Below you will find links to other resources and more information about Rhode Island's 2008 Senate race.

Reed (Democratic incumbent)

Wikipedia: Jack Reed
Official US Senate website
On The Issues: Jack Reed

Chafee (Republican/Independent? potential challenger)

Wikipedia: Lincoln Chafee
Congresspedia: Lincoln Chafee
Official US Senate website
2006 Campaign website
On The Issues: Lincoln Chafee

Local Blogs
Rhode Island's Future