Lincoln Chafee isn't taking no for an answer.

Chafee was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Republican in Rhode Island, was defeated in 2006 after one full term, successfully ran for governor as an independent in 2010, switched to the Democratic Party in 2013, declined to seek re-election in 2014 due to enduring dismal poll numbers, and briefly ran for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination in 2015. On Sunday, Chafee filed to run for president in 2020 on the Libertarian Party ticket, The Intercept's Lee Fang noticed Sunday evening.


Chafee, who moved to Wyoming after dropping out of the 2016 race, will formally announce his candidacy on Wednesday at the National President Club in Washington, his campaign treasurer, Caswell Cook Jr., told the Providence Journal. His website, registered last September, touts Chafee's "thirty years, zero scandals," and declares: "Protect Our Freedoms. Tell The Truth. No More Wars. No More Reckless Spending."

"The news may spur concern among Democrats about the possibility Chafee could siphon votes away from their party's eventual nominee in what is expected to be a tough race against President Trump," writes Ted Nesi at WPRI 12 in Providence. "The 2016 Libertarian ticket of Gary Johnson and Bill Weld received about 4.5 million votes nationwide. (Weld is now challenging Trump for the GOP nomination.)" And if the Libertarians don't take him, there's always the Green Party. Peter Weber