Also in 2006, Sen. Lincoln Chafee lost the seat that had been held by him or his father for 30 years. Former State Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse defeated Chafee by a margin of 53.5–46.5% in an election that was part of a national swing to a Democratic majority in both houses of the U.S. Congress. Chafee, one of the most left-of-center Senators at the time, later admitted that his loss to Whitehouse was good for the country since it helped give the majority to the Democrats, and Chafee later disaffiliated from the Republican Party and announced a run for governor for 2010.
