Lincoln Chafee, a former Republican senator and independent governor in Rhode Island, says he is exploring a bid for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016. Watch the video below:
“Campaigns are the time for debates about the vision for our future and for the voters to assess the character and experience of those offering ideas,” Chafee says in the video. The former Republican criticizes the last time the party was in power and praised Barack Obama’s presidency.
“Over the last six years, President Obama has led admirably. He has revived our economy,” he says. Chafee also shares his concerns about instability in the Middle East and North Africa. “I don’t like where this is going,” he says.
Chafee would likely face Hillary Clinton in the primary. Clinton served as Secretary of State during the first term of the Obama administration.
Chafee’s father, John Chafee, was the Republican governor of Rhode Island, and later served in the U.S. Senate. When John Chafee died in 1999, Lincoln, who had been gearing up to run for the seat the following year, was appointed to fill the seat. After winning election in 2000 running as a Republican, Chafee became critical of his own party, particularly on the Iraq war. He lost reelection in 2006 to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse.
Chafee subsequently left the GOP and became an independent, running as such in the 2010 gubernatorial election. He won and switched to the Democratic party halfway through his one and only term as Rhode Island’s governor.
