| − | '''Lincoln Davenport Chafee''' (born March 26, 1953) was a [[liberal]] Republican Senator from the state of [[Rhode Island]]. Chafee was appointed to the United States Senate in 1999 upon the death of his father, Senator John Chafee, and was elected to a full six-year term in 2000. Although he is a member of the [[Republican]] party, Chafee recently gave an indication that he would soon be switching his political affiliation. After winning a fierce Republican primary battle against conservative Mayor, [[Steve Laffey]], Chafee lost his re-election bid in 2006 to [[Democrat]] [[Sheldon Whitehouse]] by a narrow margin. | + | '''Lincoln Davenport Chafee''' (born March 26, 1953) was a [[liberal]] Republican Senator from the state of [[Rhode Island]]. Chafee was appointed to the United States Senate in 1999 upon the death of his father, Senator John Chafee, and was elected to a full six-year term in 2000. Although he is a member of the [[Republican]] party, Chafee recently gave an indication that he would soon be switching his political affiliation. After winning a fierce Republican primary battle against conservative Mayor, [[Steve Laffey]], Chafee lost his re-election bid in 2006 to [[Democrat]], [[Sheldon Whitehouse]], by a narrow margin. |