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Lincoln Chafee

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Lincoln Chafee
Lincoln Chafee.jpg
Governor of Rhode Island
Incumbent
In office
January 4, 2011 - Present
Term ends
2014
Years in position 2
PartyIndependent
PredecessorDonald Carcieri (R)
Compensation
Base salary$129,210
Elections and appointments
First electedNovember 2, 2010
Next electionNovember 4, 2014
Campaign $$3,055,383
Term limitsN/A
Prior offices
United States Senator
November 2, 1999 – January 3, 2007
Mayor of Warwick
1992-1999
Education
Bachelor'sBrown University
Personal
BirthdayMarch 26, 1953
Place of birthProvidence, RI
Websites
Office website
Campaign website

Contents

Lincoln Chafee (b. March 26, 1953 in Providence, Rhode Island) is the Independent Governor of Rhode Island. He previously belonged to the Republican party, serving in the U.S. Senate for seven years. Initially appointed to his father's seat upon the senior Senator Chafee's death in 1999, he won a six-year term in 2000. In 2006, he lost his seat to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse. The following year, Chafee left the GOP.[1]

Prior to his Senate term, Chafee was a delegate to Rhode Island's Constitutional Convention and a member of the City Council of Warwick, Rhode Island. From there, he was elected as the Mayor of Warwick.[2]

The former Republican and sole sitting Independent governor, Chafee is considering running for re-election on the Democratic ticket in 2014.[3]

Biography

Chafee is a Rhode Island native, growing up in one of the state's political families. As an undergraduate he studied Classics as well as captaining the wrestling team. After undergraduate work. he studied at the Montana State University horseshoeing school in Bozeman, Montana and spent seven years working as a farrier at racetracks in the U.S. and Canada.[2]

He entered politics in 1985 when he was a delegate to Rhode Island's Constitutional Convention. The next year, he won election to Warwick's City Council. In 1992, he became the city's Mayor, a post he held until his Senate appointment in 1999.[2]

Following the end of his Senate career, Chafee accepted a post as a distinguished visiting fellow at Brown University's Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies, where he worked with undergraduates studying America's foreign policy until his January 2010 announcement of his candidacy for the governorship.[2]

Education

  • Montana State University
  • B.A., Brown University
  • Phillips Academy[2]

Political career

Rhode Island Governor (2011-present)

Chafee was sworn in as Governor of Rhode Island on January 4, 2011, at which time he became be America's only sitting governor not to belong to one of the major parties.

Transition team

Governor-elect Chafee's transition site was at Governor Elect Chafee. Graham Vyse served as the point of contact, available at gvyse@govenernorelectchafee.org. and at 401-535-8834. Mike Trainor continued his campaign role as spokesman for Chafee, with the title of Deputy Transition Director. The first round of names announced for the transition team included Chairman Patrick Rogers, aided by Stephen Hourahan as Transition Director, Michael Trainor, Director of Transition Policy Jonathan Stevens, and Judge Stephen Erickson as the Transition Legislative Liaison/Legal Adviser.[4]

Additionally, a transition advisory committee was named, with Helena Buonanno Foulkes, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer at CVS Caremark; Dr. Pablo Rodriguez, Associate Chair for Community Relationships in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Women and Infants' Hospital, and CEO of Women's Care; Meg Curran, former U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island; and Robert A. Walsh, Jr, Director of the National Education Association Rhode Island. On November 17, 2010, Chafee added Margaret Holland McDuff, Claire Richards, and John Simmons.[5]

Tax reform

In his budget for fiscal year 2014, Chafee proposed decreasing the state corporate tax rate from 9 to 7 percent over the next three years. The Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity commended the governor for proposing New England's lowest corporate tax rate but suggested that its own proposal for eliminating Rhode Island's 7 percent sales tax would be much more effective at creating jobs. After comparing the two proposals with the Center's own tax modeling algorithm, Center CEO Mike Stenhouse claimed that ending the sales tax would create 23,873 jobs in the state over the next three years, but Chafee's proposal would only add 144.[6]

Pension reform

Chafee played a major role in overhauling the state's employee pension system. In 2011, Rhode Island General Treasurer Gina Raimondo (D) ordered new estimates of the state's pension liability. Finding that the liability increased from $4.9 billion to $7.3 billion, Raimondo pushed the issue to the top of the agenda.[7] Raimondo and Chafee introduced a complicated plan to deal with the issue, which met with bipartisan support in both chambers and was passed in November 2011.[8]

Appointments

On the morning on November 16, 2010, Chafee, still the governor-elect, announced former Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island Richard Licht as his nominee for Director of Administration.[9][10]

Elections

2014

See also: Rhode Island gubernatorial election, 2014

Chaffee is eligible for re-election in 2014. The country's only Independent governor, Chafee endorsed Democratic President Obama in 2008 and 2012, is considering running as a Democrat in the 2014 election. His primary motivation in switching parties would be gaining the ability to fund a competitive re-election campaign. "There is no independent governors association throwing money around ... but there is a Democratic Governors Association," he told The Associated Press in December 2012. Reaffirming his concerns, a report released by Governing in December 2012 named Chafee as one of five governors considered vulnerable to losing re-election in 2013-2014.[11]

2010

See also: Rhode Island gubernatorial election, 2010 and Gubernatorial elections, 2010

Chafee faced Frank T. Caprio (D), John F. Robitaille (R), Ken Block (Moderate), Ronald Algieri (I), Todd Giroux (I), and Joseph M. Lusi (I) in the general election on November 2, 2010.[12]

Governor of Rhode Island, 2010
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Frank T. Caprio 23% 78,896
     Republican John F. Robitaille 33.6% 114,911
     Independent Green check mark.jpgLincoln Chafee 36.1% 123,571
     Moderate Ken Block 6.5% 22,146
     Independent Ronald Algieri 0.2% 793
     Independent Todd Giroux 0.3% 882
     Independent Joseph M. Lusi 0.3% 1,091
Total Votes 342,290

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Chafee is available dating back to 2010. Based on available campaign finance records, Chafee raised a total of $3,055,383 during that time period. This information was last updated on May 11, 2013.[13]

Lincoln Chafee's Campaign Contribution History
Year Office Result Contributions
2012 Governor of Rhode Island Not up for election $424,467
2010 Governor of Rhode Island Won $2,630,916
Grand Total Raised $3,055,383

2010

Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. The following table offers a breakdown of Lincoln Chafee's donors each year.[14] Click [show] for more information.


Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term "Lincoln + Chafee + Rhode + Island + Governor"

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

Lincoln Chafee News Feed


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See also

External links

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References

  1. ↑ Rhode Island Governor "About" Accessed November 3, 2012
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Chaffee for Governor "About" Accessed November 3, 2012
  3. ↑ The Associated Press, "RI Gov. Chafee open to running for 2nd term as Dem," December 14, 2012
  4. ↑ Governor Elect Chafee, "Biographies: Chafee Transition Leadership Team, Transition Advisory Committee", November 8, 2010
  5. ↑ RI Government, "Governor-elect Lincoln Chafee Names Three New Members of Transition Leadership Team", November 17, 2010
  6. ↑ Mike Stenhouse, Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, "Corporate Tax Cut is Not a Game-Changer for RI," January 17, 2013
  7. ↑ National Review, "Rhode Island’s Pension Reform, Plus Thoughts on Sustainable Victories," November 18, 2011
  8. ↑ Huffington Post, "Rhode Island Pension Reform Bill Heads To Legislative Vote Next Week ," November 11, 2011
  9. ↑ RI Government, "Media Advisory: Chafee to Announce Nominee for Director of Administration This Morning—11/16/2010", November 16, 2010
  10. ↑ RI Government, "Governor-elect Lincoln Chafee Announces Richard Licht as Choice for DOA Director—11/15/2010", November 15, 2010
  11. ↑ Governing Politics, "2013-2014 Governor's Races: Who's Vulnerable?," December 11, 2012
  12. ↑ AP election guide - Hosted by NPR, "Rhode Island State Profile," accessed February 4, 2013
  13. ↑ Follow the Money, " Career fundraising for Lincoln Chafee," accessed May 11, 2013
  14. ↑ Follow the Money.org
Political offices
Preceded by
Donald Carcieri (R) 		Governor of Rhode Island
2011 - present 		Succeeded by
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