The Facts About The Laffey-Chafee Race
THEN AND NOW, THE FACTS ABOUT THE RHODE ISLAND PRIMARY RACE
</divWASHINGTON -- Last year, the Club for Growth PAC endorsed Steve Laffey for today's Rhode Island Senate GOP primary race. And despite incredible odds, despite being outspent nearly 2-to-1, despite all the built-in advantages of incumbency, and despite overwhelming backing of the national party, there is a strong consensus from pundits that the race is a tossup.
"Issues matter. Voters still care about pocketbook issues like lower taxes, lower spending and less government waste. If economic growth wasn't important to voters, this race wouldn't be close. But the fact that it is speaks volumes about the viability of the issues this election cycle," said Pat Toomey, President of the Club for Growth.
AGAINST THE ODDS:
- According to an April 2006 independent public poll, Laffey was trailing Senator Lincoln Chafee by a 56% to 28% margin.
- Laffey has been outspent nearly 2-to-1.
- The Power of Incumbency: It is very rare for incumbent senators to lose in their party's primary -- just one elected Senate Republican incumbent has lost a primary race in the last 25 years.
"No matter what happens when the votes are counted, this race shows that the power of our ideas will be an influential factor in this election cycle," added Mr. Toomey.
Club for Growth members have donated over $725,000 to Laffey's campaign and the Club for Growth PAC has spent over $515,000 in independent expenditures in this race, including over $450,000 of TV ads in the last month.
