By MICHELLE R. SMITH Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee endorsed the Democratic challenger in the governor’s race over incumbent Democrat Gina Raimondo on Thursday, saying she made too many mistakes in office and former Secretary of State Matt Brown was “in it for the right reasons.”
Raimondo’s campaign responded by going after both men, saying neither had accomplished much in office and attacking their Democratic bona fides.
“Both have history of hopping in and out of the Democratic Party when it’s politically expedient,” Raimondo campaign spokeswoman Emily Samsel said in a statement.
Chafee has been publicly critical of Raimondo, who succeeded him in office, and he seriously considered entering the race before deciding against it this spring.
He told The Associated Press in an interview on Thursday that he disagrees with Raimondo’s policies, including using tax incentives to lure businesses to the state. He also cited mistakes made on Raimondo’s watch, including a trouble-plagued computer program for the state benefits system and a botched tourism campaign with the widely pilloried tagline “Cooler and Warmer.”
“We never had any competency issues in our departments,” Chafee said.
He said Raimondo had not asked for his endorsement, and that he had not asked to meet with her before his decision to endorse Brown, who he called hardworking and energetic.
“He’s a fresh face, and I think people want that. It’s an environment where people want a new energy,” Chafee said. “He also has won statewide office, and he has that experience of being able to get elected.”
Chafee was a Republican U.S. Senator and was later elected governor in 2010 as an independent. He became a Democrat in office, and did not run again in 2014. Brown, who served as secretary of state from 2003 to 2007, was unaffiliated before his gubernatorial run.
Brown ran for Senate as a Democrat in 2006 but dropped out following a campaign finance scandal. He was accused of trying to circumvent contribution limits by taking $25,000 from Democratic parties in three other states, then steering top donors who had maxed out to give money to those parties. Brown denied wrongdoing but gave the money back. The Federal Election Commission later ruled the state parties did not break campaign finance laws.
Brown later founded a Washington-based nonprofit, Global Zero, that works to eliminate nuclear weapons, before his surprise re-emergence in Rhode Island politics this year.
Raimondo’s campaign went after Brown for leaving the state, saying in its statement that she “has been tirelessly fighting for people being left behind in today’s America, no thanks to Matt Brown, who disappeared from Rhode Island after his last campaign collapsed and was nowhere to be found as so many people pitched in to make a difference in our state.”
