Governor of Rhode Island
On January 4, 2010 Chafee formally declared his intention to run for Governor of Rhode Island in 2010 as an independent, as the incumbent Governor Donald Carcieri (a Republican re-elected the same day Chafee lost his Senate re-election bid) was term-limited at the time. On October 31, 2010, electoral analysis site FiveThirtyEight.com gave Chafee a 63.8% chance of victory, compared to Democratic opponent Frank Caprio's 26.2% and Republican opponent John Robitaille's 10.0%. Likewise, other sites, such as the Cook Political Report, classified the race as a "toss-up". Chafee's approval rating at the time of his 2006 defeat was between 51% and 63%.
On September 16, 2010, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg traveled to Rhode Island. Bloomberg praised Chafee's "experience and integrity", saying that Chafee would put Rhode Islanders' interests "ahead of party interests", and that Chafee would "produce results—because that's exactly what he did as a mayor and as senator." On November 2, 2010, Chafee won the gubernatorial race, winning with a 35.9% plurality in the seven-candidate race.
It was reported that Obama's lack of endorsement for any of the candidates was an indication that he supported the Independent Chafee over Democratic challenger Frank T. Caprio.
In November 2011, it was reported that Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, the Chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, had asked Chafee to join the Democratic Party. When asked if he was considering it, Chafee responded, "I’m happy where I am for now."
In August 2012, he had announced plans to attend the Democratic Convention in Charlotte in showing support for Barack Obama's reelection.
Read more about this topic: Lincoln Chafee
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