Rhode Island's Chafee Leading in Republican Primary (Update1)

By Brian Faler and Laura Litvan

Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island was leading challenger Steve Laffey in a Republican primary that may help determine whether the party retains control of the U.S. Senate.

Chafee, who is seeking his second full term, had 53 percent of the vote in early returns to 47 percent for Laffey with two- thirds of precincts reporting, according to the state Board of Elections Web site.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is backing Chafee even though he has often split from the Bush administration because it said Laffey, who is supported by an anti-tax group, is ``unelectable'' in a state where only about 10 percent of registered voters are Republicans.

A Chafee primary victory may give Republicans a better chance in the Nov. 7 election against Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, a former state attorney general, and a boost in their bid to keep control of the Senate. Democrats need a net gain of six seats in November to win control of the 100-member Senate.

Chafee's is one of eight Senate seats now held by Republicans that are rated competitive by the Washington-based nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

Rhode Island was one of nine states and the District of Columbia holding primary elections today.

In the Democratic primary for the Maryland Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Paul Sarbanes, nine-term House member Ben Cardin is competing against Kweisi Mfume, a former U.S. representative and former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and more than a dozen other candidates. The winner will face the state's Republican Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele in the general election.

Supported Kerry

Maryland supported John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election by 13 percentage points and backed Sarbanes in his 2000 Senate race by 30 points. Non-partisan political analyst Charlie Cook rates the race as competitive and leaning Democratic.

In New York, Eliot Spitzer won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination against Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, and Senator Hillary Clinton defeated Jonathan Tasini in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, the Associated Press said.

In Arizona's 8th Congressional District, Republicans Randy Graf, a state representative, and Steve Huffman, a real estate agent and state lawmaker, are seeking the party's nomination, while Democrats Patty Weiss, a television journalist, and state Senator Gabrielle Giffords compete for the right to run in November to succeed retiring Republican Jim Kolbe.

Hotly Contested

The race is likely to be one of the nation's most hotly contested, as district voters in 2004 backed both Republican President George W. Bush and Arizona's Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano.

Immigration is one of the top issues in the district, which borders Mexico. Kolbe supports Senate legislation that creates a guest-worker program and would give millions of undocumented immigrants a path to legal status. Graf backed a House immigration proposal that emphasized increasing enforcement at the border without a guest-worker program.

In Rhode Island's 2nd Congressional District, Democratic incumbent Jim Langevin led Jennifer Lawless, who criticized Langevin for his support of the Iraq war. Langevin had 62 percent of the vote compared with 38 percent for Lawless, according to the Board of Elections Web site.

In the race for the Vermont Senate seat being vacated by Independent Jim Jeffords, Representative Bernie Sanders defeated four Democratic challengers, the Associated Press said. Cook said a Sanders victory in the primary would make him likely to defeat the Republican challenger in November. Sanders will run as an independent in November, the AP said.

Minnesota Race

In Minnesota's 5th Congressional District four candidates -- former state Senator Ember Junge, former state party chairman Mike Erlandson, former state Representative Keith Ellison and Minneapolis City Councilman Paul Ostrow -- are competing in the Democratic primary to replace retiring Representative Martin Sabo. The seat is safely Democratic, as more then 70 percent of voters supported John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.

In the District of Columbia, City Councilman Adrian Fenty declared victory in a primary against six other Democrats, including Council Chairwoman Linda Cropp, for the party's nomination for mayor. The primary winner will be an overwhelming favorite to win the November general election to succeed Anthony Williams in the heavily Democratic city.

Tax Cuts

Chafee, 53, opposed Bush's 2001 tax cuts and many other policies of the Republican administration. He voted against the 2002 resolution authorizing the Iraq invasion, has opposed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, and has opposed efforts to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration.

He ran unopposed in his 2000 primary, but attracted a strong challenge this time from Laffey, who got $600,000 in donations through the Club for Growth, a Washington-based anti-tax group. Laffey, 44, promised to hew more closely to the party's economic and tough-on-security themes.

Chafee voted to support Bush's agenda just 56 percent of the time in 2005, according to an analysis by Congressional Quarterly, the lowest level of any Republican senator. He voted with most other Senate Republicans that year just 47 percent of the time, CQ said.

``He didn't sell himself ideologically in this primary,'' said Wendy Schiller, an associate professor of political science at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Rather, she said, he argued he was ``senatorial, with a capital S,'' and therefore better able to deliver the state more federal dollars and otherwise represent its constituents.

Party Support

Chafee was aided by unusual primary race support from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate Republicans' fundraising arm. The NRSC, typically silent as party candidates duke it out in primary races, stepped in to help Chafee after polls showed Laffey running as much as 30 points behind Whitehouse in any general election matchup.

Schiller said that Chafee's tough re-election this year stems in part from his inability, so far at least, to connect enough with Rhode Island voters.

``He hasn't connected as deeply with Rhode Island voters as his father did,'' she said. ``He's never gained a strong foothold.''

Chafee's father, Senator John Chafee, served as senator from 1976 to 1999, when he died.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Faler in Washington at bfaler@bloomberg.net Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 12, 2006 22:29 EDT

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