2006 United States Senate election in Rhode Island

2006 United States Senate election in Rhode Island

November 7, 2006

Nominee Sheldon Whitehouse Lincoln Chafee Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 206,109 179,001 Percentage 53.52% 46.48%

Whitehouse:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Chafee:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Lincoln Chafee Republican Elected U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse Democratic

The 2006 United States Senate election in Rhode Island was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Lincoln Chafee sought re-election to a second full term in office, the seat he had held since 1999 when he was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the death of his father John Chafee. He lost to Democratic nominee, former state Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse by a 7-point margin. Lincoln Chafee later left the Republican Party in September 2007 before running successfully as an Independent for Governor of Rhode Island in 2010.

Whitehouse carried Providence County, which contains approximately 60% of the state's population, with 59% to Chafee's 41%. Chafee's strongest showing was in Washington County (South County), where he took 55% of the vote against Whitehouse's 45%. After the election, when asked by a reporter if he thought his defeat would help the country by giving Democrats control of Congress, Chafee replied, "to be honest, yes."

As of 2023, this was the last time the Republican candidates won the counties of Bristol and Washington in a statewide election. Democrats won this Senate seat for the first time since 1970; this also marked the first time since that election that the winner of Rhode Island's Class 1 Senate seat was not a member of the Chafee family. Chafee would go on to run for governor and was elected in 2010. Sheldon Whitehouse's inauguration or swearing-in marked the first time since the resignation of John Pastore in 1976 that Democrats held both Senate seats from Rhode Island.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Carl Sheeler, Marine veteran
• Sheldon Whitehouse, former Attorney General of Rhode Island and former U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island
• Christopher F. Young, activist and perennial candidate

Campaign

Whitehouse was endorsed by U.S. Senator Jack Reed, U.S. Congressmen Jim Langevin and Patrick J. Kennedy, as well as by former candidate Matt Brown. Sheeler, a former U.S. Marine, a business owner, and an adjunct professor of business, ran on a more progressive platform. Ultimately, however, Whitehouse would trounce his competition in the primary on September 12, winning his party's support by a large margin.

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sheldon Whitehouse	69,290	81.53
	Democratic	Christopher F. Young	8,939	10.52
	Democratic	Carl Sheeler	6,755	7.95
Total votes			84,984	100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

• Lincoln Chafee, incumbent U.S. Senator
• Steve Laffey, Mayor of Cranston

Campaign

Incumbent Lincoln Chafee was one of the most liberal members of the Republican Party in the Senate by 2006, and was challenged for the Republican nomination by Laffey who had criticized Chafee for his liberal voting record in the Senate. In early 2006, the Club for Growth, a pro-tax cut political action committee, sent a series of mailings to Rhode Island Republicans attacking Chafee's positions and voting record.

The national GOP supported Chafee in the primary campaign, believing that he was the most likely candidate to hold the seat in the general election. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Senator John McCain of Arizona and First Lady Laura Bush appeared at fundraisers for Chafee, while Senator Bill Frist's PAC donated to Chafee. The National Republican Senatorial Committee also ran ads in the state supporting Chafee. Steve Laffey, however, picked up many endorsements from Republican town committees throughout Rhode Island, the national group Club for Growth, and former candidate for the party's presidential nomination Steve Forbes. On July 10, 2006, the National Republican Senatorial Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Laffey, saying that he had included a political communication in tax bills mailed to residents of Cranston.

Debates

• Complete video of debate, August 23, 2006 - C-SPAN
• Complete video of debate, August 26, 2006 - C-SPAN

Polling

Source	Date	Lincoln Chafee	Steve Laffey
Rhode Island College	April 2006	56%	28%
American Research Group	May 5, 2006	48%	39%
Club for Growth/National Research Inc.	June 2, 2006	45%	44%
Rhode Island College	June 2006	39%	38%
Rhode Island College	August 28–30, 2006	34%	51%
RNSC/Public Opinion Strategies	August 30, 2006	53%	39%

Results

Results by county:

  Chafee—50–60%

  Laffey—50–60%

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lincoln Chafee (incumbent)	34,936	54.18
	Republican	Steve Laffey	29,547	45.82
Total votes			64,483	100.00

General election

Candidates

• Lincoln Chafee (R), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Sheldon Whitehouse (D), former state Attorney General

Campaign

Democrats believed that this was one of the most likely Senate seats to switch party control, due to the Democratic tilt of Rhode Island, as well as the fact that Chafee needed to expend part of his campaign fund to win the Republican primary election. Chafee's approval ratings also took a beating from his primary battle with Laffey and may have hurt him in the general election. Another factor that hurt Chafee was the fact that Whitehouse, the Democratic nominee, had a huge head start on him, as he was able to campaign with little opposition for at least half the year and had not had to contend with a major opponent until the general election campaign. Rhode Islanders' historically large disapproval ratings for President George W. Bush and the Republican Party as a whole was another major hurdle for Chafee.

Debates

• Complete video of debate, October 19, 2006 - C-SPAN
• Complete video of debate, October 30, 2006 - C-SPAN

Issues

Whitehouse and Chafee did not have large differences on political issues. On social issues, they were almost entirely in agreement with each other. Chafee was also against the Bush tax cuts. On fiscal issues, such as social security and trade, they were however in disagreement.

• Abortion
  • Chafee - pro-choice
  • Whitehouse - pro-choice
• Stem-Cell research
  • Chafee - support
  • Whitehouse - support
• Death penalty
  • Chafee - strongly opposes
  • Whitehouse - support in federal level, but not in state level
• Gay Marriage
  • Chafee - supports
  • Whitehouse - supports
• Privatizing Social Security
  • Chafee - Partially Supports
  • Whitehouse - Strongly Against
• Bush Tax Cuts
  • Chafee - Strongly against
  • Whitehouse - Strongly against
• Vouchers
  • Chafee - rated 55% by NEA, representing a mixed record
  • Whitehouse - Strongly against
• Federal Spending on Health Care
  • Chafee - Strongly supports
  • Whitehouse - Strongly supports
• PATRIOT Act
  • Chafee - supports
  • Whitehouse - against
• Free Trade
  • Chafee - supports
  • Whitehouse - against

[1]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report	Tossup	November 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball	Lean D (flip)	November 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report	Lean D (flip)	November 6, 2006
Real Clear Politics	Tossup	November 6, 2006

Polling

Source	Date	Sheldon Whitehouse (D)	Lincoln Chafee (R)
Brown University	September 13, 2005	25%	38%
Brown University	February 8, 2006	34%	40%
Rasmussen	February 11, 2006	38%	50%
Rhode Island College	April 2006	32%	51%
Rasmussen	May 4, 2006	41%	44%
Rasmussen	June 5, 2006	42%	44%
Rhode Island College	June 21, 2006	40%	43%
Brown University	June 26, 2006	38%	37%
Rasmussen	July 18, 2006	46%	41%
Rasmussen	August 9, 2006	44%	38%
Fleming & Associates	August 24, 2006	42%	43%
Rasmussen	September 3, 2006	44%	42%
Rasmussen	September 17, 2006	51%	43%
Brown University	September 16–18, 2006	40%	39%
American Research Group	September 19, 2006	45%	40%
Mason-Dixon/MSNBC	October 2, 2006	42%	41%
Reuters/Zogby	October 5, 2006	45%	41%
USA Today/Gallup	October 6, 2006	50%	39%
Rasmussen	October 10, 2006	49%	39%
Rhode Island College	October 10, 2006	40%	37%
Fleming & Associates	October 19, 2006	46%	42%
Rasmussen	October 19, 2006	50%	42%
Mason-Dixon/MSNBC	October 24, 2006	48%	43%
Rhode Island College	October 27, 2006	51%	43%
Reuters/Zogby	November 2, 2006	53%	39%
Mason-Dixon/MSNBC	November 5, 2006	45%	46%
USA Today/Gallup	November 5, 2006	48%	45%

Hypothetical polling

with Steve Laffey

Source	Date	Sheldon Whitehouse (D)	Steve Laffey (R)
Brown University	September 13, 2005	35%	25%
Brown University	February 8, 2006	44%	29%
Brown University	June 26, 2006	55%	25%

Results

Whitehouse defeated Chafee in his bid for a second full term. Whitehouse lost every county except Providence County, home to the majority of the state's residents. His victory here was enough to win the state.

As a testament to how Democratic Rhode Island has become, this marks the last Senate election where a Republican received more than 40% of the vote or won a county. Chafee himself would later leave the Republican Party and serve as Governor of Rhode Island as an Independent. He later joined the Democratic Party, running for president in 2016.

United States Senate election in Rhode Island, 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Sheldon Whitehouse	206,043	53.52%	+12.37%
	Republican	Lincoln Chafee (incumbent)	178,950	46.48%	−10.40%
Total votes			384,993	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic gain from Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Providence (largest municipality: Providence)

See also

• 2006 United States Senate elections

External links

• Sheldon Whitehouse for Senate
• Senator Chafee Earns Sierra Club Endorsement
• Rhode Island Election Results Archived June 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine