2006 New Member Profiles
Rhode Island Senate: Sheldon Whitehouse (D)
The Almanac of American Politics
© National Journal Group Inc.
| Sheldon Whitehouse (D) |
| Born: |
October 20, 1955 |
| Family: |
Wife, Sandra; two children |
| Religion: |
Protestant |
| Education: |
Yale University, B.A. 1978; University of Virginia, J.D. 1982 |
| Career: |
Assistant state attorney general; governor's legal counsel and policy director; director, state Business Regulation Department; U.S. attorney |
Elected
Office: |
Rhode Island attorney general, 1998-2002
|
Sheldon Whitehouse knocked off the only Republican in Rhode Island's congressional delegation by defeating GOP Sen.
Lincoln Chafee in the most expensive campaign in state history.
Whitehouse, a former state attorney general, is the son of a World War II veteran who roomed with Chafee's father, former GOP Sen. John Chafee, at Yale University and who later served as U.S. ambassador to Laos and Thailand.
Whitehouse began his career in state government in 1985 as a special assistant attorney general. In 1991, he went to work for then-Gov. Bruce Sundlun and served in a variety of positions for the Democrat, including a stint as the state's top business regulator. President Clinton appointed Whitehouse as U.S. attorney for Rhode Island in 1994. In his 1998 victory for state attorney general, Whitehouse overcame a bitter primary and defeated GOP Treasurer Nancy Mayer in the general election.
He considered running for the Senate when John Chafee announced he would not seek a fifth term, but decided against it. After the elder Chafee died in 1999, his son Lincoln was appointed to finish his term, and he won a full term in 2000 with 57 percent of the vote. Whitehouse ran for governor in 2002 but lost in the Democratic primary by just 926 votes. Since then, he has been in private practice.
In challenging Chafee this year, Whitehouse had an easy time in the September 12 Democratic primary after his most serious opponent, Secretary of State Matt Brown, dropped out of the race in April amid allegations of campaign finance violations.
Chafee, meanwhile, was forced to fight for renomination against Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey, a fiscal conservative and a tough campaigner who had the support of the anti-tax Club for Growth. Despite Chafee's moderate voting record, the National Republican Senatorial Committee vigorously defended the incumbent under the assumption that he would be a much stronger general election candidate than Laffey in the heavily Democratic state. Chafee and his father were the only Republicans elected to the Senate from Rhode Island in the past 70 years.
Chafee won the bruising GOP primary, 54 percent to 46 percent, but he was at a disadvantage in facing Whitehouse, who was able to conserve his resources in the primary and then get an earlier start on his general election campaign. By mid-October, Whitehouse had raised $5.4 million and had nearly $1 million to spend, while Chafee had just $152,000 on hand.
Although Chafee emphasized his willingness to work across party lines, Whitehouse urged Rhode Islanders to vote their party preference. That posed a problem for the incumbent in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 3-to-1 and where independents, who represent the largest voting bloc, were disillusioned with the Bush administration.
