Lincoln Chafee files to run for president as a libertarian
Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee has filed to run for President as a libertarian in what appears to be a new long-shot White House bid following his failed campaign for the Democratic nomination in 2016.
Chafee filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Sunday to form the Lincoln Chafee for President campaign committee based in Wyoming.
A website linked to Chafee’s FEC filing states “Lincoln Leads with TRUTH” along with the phrase “Thirty Years, Zero Scandals.”
Chafee has spent most of his life as a Republican. He was nominated to his late father’s Senate seat in 1999 and then was elected as a Republican in 2000. He served only one term, losing to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse in 2006, but then successfully ran for governor of Rhode Island as an independent.
His 2016 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, however, was marked by anemic poll and fundraising numbers.
“As you know, I have been campaigning on a platform of Prosperity Through Peace,” Chafee said in announcing the end of his campaign in October 2015. “But after much thought I have decided to end my campaign for president today. I would like to take this opportunity one last time to advocate for a chance be given to peace.”
