June 22, 2006
The Big Number: 50
A new survey by the Bureau of Gov't Research Services at RI College shows that, should more than 50% of the primary electorate be made up of GOPers, Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R) is in danger of losing his seat to Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey (R). When a sample of GOPers is weighted at 60% GOP to 40% Independent, Laffey leads, 39% to 36%. But when the sample is made up of an even split between GOPers and indies, Chafee pulls it out by the skin of his teeth, 39% to 38%.
As we noted earlier this week, the Chafee camp's effort to convince Dems to switch their party affiliation to independent -- and thus be eligible to vote in the GOP primary -- may have paid off, as 14,500 Dems did, in fact, switch and become indies. In a state in which turnout for a GOP primary will likely be less than 45,000, those Dems -- more likely to vote for Chafee -- could save the race for him. In the same survey, 25% of RIers said they planned to vote in the GOP primary.
We'd sure like to see the cross-tabs on that question. Just how many of those were Dems? [REID WILSON]
Posted at 05:53 PM
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