Lincoln Chafee forgoes U.S. Senate run

By: Rebecca Turco

Email: rturco@abc6.com

WARWICK, R.I. – Lincoln Chafee has decided against a run for U.S. Senate, after saying last month he was 90-percent sure he would run.

"I think I took a lot of people by surprise when I talked about running," Chafee said Tuesday.

The former governor, after all, was toying with joining the gubernatorial race just last fall – before moving his eyes to the very seat he once held as a Republican, pitting a rematch against incumbent Sheldon Whitehouse, this time as a Democrat in the September primary.

"It would’ve been a tough race,” said Chafee. “I knew that right from the beginning."

The one-time presidential nominee credits his dismay with Donald Trump’s presidency for initially deciding to run, plus a push from some Bernie Sanders supporters. But after adding it all up, the time wasn’t right. "The feedback I’m getting is, ‘let’s move forward,’ and I can understand that."

His polling data did not help matters. Even though he wouldn’t get deep into the numbers, he called it a “steep climb.” Chafee says many Democrats still saw him as a Republican, despite his brief bout as an Independent governor before becoming a Democrat.

Chafee has decided against running for any political office in 2018. As for the future, he won’t rule anything out: "Not too many Americans have been mayor, a U.S. Senator and a governor, so that package of being honest and experienced and hard-working hopefully can [be] put to use somewhere, sometime."

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