Who Is Lincoln Chafee the Former US Senator and What Is His Net Worth?

Lincoln Chafee studied at Providence Country Day School, before later moving to Philips Academy. For his college education, he attended Brown University where he was able to join the wrestling team. More so, he went to a horseshoeing school at Montana State University. After this, Chafee decided to work as a farmer at Harness Racetracks for seven years.

He worked in the United States and Canada before moving into politics in 1985. Chafee was a delegate to the Rhode Island Constitutional Convention in 1985 and following his father’s footsteps, he was elected to the Warwick City Council.

His father, John Chafee who died on October 1999, was a senator until he passed away. Because of this, Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Almond decided to appoint the younger Chafee to finish the term left by his father since he was not new in politics.

Political Career 

Lincoln Chafee became the mayor of the Warwick in 1993 until his appointment to the Senate. After completing the term, he contested and was elected to a full term in 2000 after defeating Robert Weygand. Considered least conservative despite being a liberal Republican, Chafee worked for the nation opposing claims for eliminating estate tax, increasing federal tax rates, and increasing the minimum wage. Chafee was also the 8th richest Senator while in office worth $51 million.

Chafee became popular after he cast a write-in vote for George H.W. Bush instead of voting President George W. Bush. He became a part of the election challenge by Mayor Steve Laffey and Cranston, however, defeating Laffey the same year but losing out to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse.

Also a supporter of Barack Obama‘s presidential campaign in 2008, Chaffee became an Independent after leaving office in 2007 and ran for the Governor of Rhode Island in the 2010 elections and won it. He stayed in the position for five years until 2015 after which he announced his intentions to run for the President of the United States.

During his bid for the 2016 presidential elections, Lincoln Chafee was said to have put in much of his personal money into his campaigns. In fact, it was reported that he was mostly sponsoring it independently with one of his biggest contributors putting in less than $3,000. In general, he was said to have received less than $30,000 in donations. This placed him at a disadvantage as he was one of the least when it came to donations.

According to a report, “Chafee loaned his presidential campaign $364,000 and spent $64,000 on the effort. He had $329,000 left in his campaign account as of June 30 (2015).”

What We Know About Lincoln Chafee’s Net Worth and Family Wealth

Chafee is married to Stephanie D and has three children with her. Lincoln Chafee’s net worth is estimated to be $50 million.

The politician has seen better days, but not to suggest that he currently isn’t having great days too. As far back as 2004, he one of the richest in the U.S. Senate when he represented Rhode Island. He was ranked 11th in wealth by Roll Call, and that was the first time he was leaving the top 10. At the time he had a net worth of $51.

Interestingly, a large part of the family wealth was owned by his wife. According to a financial disclosure during his presidential campaign, at least $19 million of Chafee’s wealth was in a trust in his wife’s name. The Trust was said to have had stakes that run into a million dollars in Goldcorp and Newmont Mining, which are both mining firms, as well as in Verizon, Kinder Morgan, Infinera, Amazon and A.H. Belo.

His net worth is currently estimated at about $50 million. With his wife, Stephanie Chafee, the two have a real estate which has been valued at up to $4 million in New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island where they own Wee Hoose Farm.

Quick Facts about Lincoln Chafee