With 90 percent of the districts reporting on election night, Independent
Lincoln Chafee was declared the winner, with 36.1% of the vote.[4] As of 2023[update], this was the last time
Newport County voted for the Republican candidate in a statewide election. Chafee had served Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate as a Republican from 1999 to 2007; he later joined the Democratic Party in 2013. [5]
The campaign drew nationwide attention in late October when President
Barack Obama, faced with a choice between Democrat Caprio and independent Chafee (who, although he had been a Republican as a senator, had endorsed the Democratic Obama for president in 2008) chose not to make any endorsement in the race. Caprio responded to the lack of an endorsement by his fellow Democrat by stating that the President "can take his endorsement and really shove it as far as I'm concerned."[10]
With 90 percent of the districts reporting on election night, Independent
Lincoln Chafee was declared the winner, with 36.1% of the vote.[4] As of 2023[update], this was the last time
Newport County voted for the Republican candidate in a statewide election. Chafee had served Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate as a Republican from 1999 to 2007; he later joined the Democratic Party in 2013. [5]
The campaign drew nationwide attention in late October when President
Barack Obama, faced with a choice between Democrat Caprio and independent Chafee (who, although he had been a Republican as a senator, had endorsed the Democratic Obama for president in 2008) chose not to make any endorsement in the race. Caprio responded to the lack of an endorsement by his fellow Democrat by stating that the President "can take his endorsement and really shove it as far as I'm concerned."[10]