Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey announced Thursday that he will vie for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Lincoln Chafee '75, forcing the incumbent moderate Republican into a primary. Laffey, who says he wants the "smallest state in the union to have the strongest voice in Washington," pledged that he will fight big drug companies, oil companies and other special interests that hurt the "hard working taxpayers of Rhode Island."
A Cranston native, Laffey attended Bowdoin College and Harvard Business School, and until 2002 headed an investment firm based in Tennessee. Since his election as mayor of Rhode Island's third-largest city in 2002, Laffey has turned Cranston's $11 million debt - the largest cumulative debt in the state - to the largest surplus. He also has a radio show that airs monthly on WPRO-AM.
"I've had the chance to work with Mayor Laffey on a number of projects," said state Rep. Carol Mumford, R-Cranston. "(He) is able to get things done in impossible situations. He's working step-by-step against insurmountable odds, and he's succeeding," she said, citing Laffey's work to lower taxes on all fronts for residents of Cranston as an example.
Chafee is known as a moderate Republican who is critical of the Bush administration on certain issues such as abortion and the war in Iraq. He notoriously voted for Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, in the 2004 presidential election.
"When (Laffey) wins, his views and style mesh with President George W. Bush," Mumford said. "I see that as an asset for the state of Rhode Island."
Bill Lynch, chairman of the Democratic Party of Rhode Island, sees Laffey's decision to enter the race as a good thing for Democratic contenders. Secretary of State Matt Brown and former Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse will face off in the Democratic primary.
"It's hard to say how (the Republican primary) is going to go - it's certainly going to be interesting," Lynch said. "It appears that Laffey has some support within the small confines of the Republican Party in Rhode Island, whereas Chafee relies more on independent voters. Obviously, if it results in a contentious Republican primary it speaks well for whichever Democrat ends up running in the Senate race."
Chafee has yet to state his views on John Roberts' nomination as chief justice of the United States, aside from commenting that it was "a smart move," according to the Providence Journal.
Chafee's Democratic opponents called Laffey's entrance into the campaign a signal of Chafee's weak appeal to Rhode Island voters.
"Laffey's decision to run in the primary is evidence that people are disappointed with Senator Chafee's indecisive and weak representation of their state in Congress," said Mike Guilfoyle, spokesman for the Whitehouse campaign.
Matt Burgess, spokesman for Brown's campaign, echoed the sentiment. "People are looking for their senator to stand up to President Bush, and they're not going to get that with Chafee or Laffey," Burgess said.
But Laffey said he doesn't plan on sitting quietly as senator.
"If there's anything the people know about me, it's that I'm a fighter," he told The Herald. "We've got to fight the special interests - most notably, oil companies. We have no national energy policy besides to keep drilling for oil. The energy bill that was just passed is a joke - there are record oil prices, and big oil companies are getting bigger tax breaks."
Laffey also spoke out against high prescription drug prices, particularly for senior citizens.
"Why are my parents paying more for prescription drugs than anyone in the country?" he asked. "(Chafee) voted with the pharmaceutical industry against importing drugs from Canada for our senior citizens," he said.
Laffey said the $286.4 billion highway bill signed by President Bush in August was an example of wasted federal money that Chafee supported.
"Linc Chafee is a nice man. I like him on a personal level. The problem is that Washington is completely run by special interests, and I don't see Lincoln Chafee standing up against such interests and fighting for us," Laffey said.
