Senate seat on line for GOP in Rhode Island primary
2006-09-11
Source: Washington Times
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rss feedSenate Republicans face the prospect of one less seat Wednesday morning, party leaders say, if Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a liberal, loses his primary here tomorrow to conservative challenger Stephen Laffey.
"Mr. Laffey has no chance to win a general election. We would find ourselves down a seat going into the November elections," said Dan Ronayne, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).
Mr. Ronayne has said the committee will not back Mr. Laffey if he wins, but is confident that Mr. Chafee will prevail.
"If Laffey wins, [Senate Minority Leader] Harry Reid is one step closer to being majority leader," agreed David Winston, a District-based Republican pollster.
In a bitterly competitive election year, every seat counts. Polls indicate that Mr. Laffey would lose badly to the presumed Democratic challenger, former state Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse, in this Democratic state.
As a result, the national Republican machine has devoted time, money and resources to securing a primary victory for Mr. Chafee. This support came even though the incumbent opposes party leaders on key issues ranging from abortion to tax cuts, and repeatedly criticizes President Bush, whom Mr. Chafee says he didn't vote for in 2004.
The Republican Party has sponsored TV ads and sent volunteers here for a get-out-the-vote effort for Mr. Chafee's re-election. So intense is concern and desire for him to win that Senate Republicans last week delayed a committee vote to confirm U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton, after Mr. Chafee said he would use the hearing to question the administration's Middle East policy.
Such stands score points for Mr. Chafee with Democrats and independents here, but have angered conservatives.
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