(CNN) - In a move largely seen as a compromise over the rights that can be afforded to gay and lesbian couples, Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee on Saturday signed into law a bill that legalizes civil unions, making his state the fifth in the nation to allow them.
The bill - which was signed just over a week after New York legalized same-sex marriage - will take effect later Saturday, according to the governor's spokesman Christian Vareika.
FULL STORY(CNN) - Independent candidate Lincoln Chafee has defeated Republican John Robitaille and Democrat Frank Caprio to win the race for Rhode Island governor, CNN projects. Republican Gov. Don Carcieri is term-limited. Projections are based on CNN analysis of exit poll data.
(CNN) – The results from the latest poll of the Rhode Island gubernatorial race may have Democratic candidate Frank Caprio looking for somewhere to shove it.
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(CNN) - "Shove it" was the most used phrase in the Rhode Island Gubernatorial debate Tuesday night.
Democratic nominee Frank Caprio said the president should "shove it" this week after not endorsing his candidacy. And the topic was the lead off question of the night's debate.
"It was a political answer to a political reaction that the White House took. When you're dealing in a political situation words like that are not uncommon. I stand by my words," Caprio said. "I reacted in a very human way, and I will continue to react in an appropriate way down the road."
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(CNN) – As Democrat Frank Caprio made exceedingly clear Monday, President Obama has not made an endorsement in the contentious Rhode Island governor's race.
But you wouldn't know that based on independent candidate Lincoln Chafee's new ad.
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Woonsocket, Rhode Island (CNN) - It isn't very often that a chair at a President Obama event garners much attention.
But at a Woonsocket, Rhode Island manufacturing plant on Monday, it was the seat, and the politician who wasn't in it, that ended up in the spotlight.
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(CNN) - "Sloppy and unprofessional."
That's what a top Democrat calls the White House's handling of the situation in Rhode Island – where President Obama declined to endorse the Democratic candidate for governor there, Frank Caprio.
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[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/08/26/art.debateproposal.file2.wpri.jpg caption =" Mayoral candidate Chris Young had an unlikely closing statement Tuesday."](CNN) – While an underdog mayoral candidate in Providence, Rhode Island likely isn't headed to City Hall any time soon, he appears destined for the marriage altar after popping the question to his girlfriend during a televised debate Tuesday night.
"Now is the time for me...to start anew and thank those who have helped me throughout my life and love those who have helped me throughout my life. So I wanted to say to Kara, will you please marry me?" said Chris Young, a quixotic candidate who has unsuccessfully sought many offices in the state and is better known for his outlandish antics then his stances on the issues.
Kara Russo, Young's girlfriend, campaign manager, and a candidate herself for Rhode Island attorney general, said yes. After the debate, Young presented Russo with a ring.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/24/art.chafee.4.gi.jpg caption=" Lincoln Chafee holds a narrow lead in Rhode Island’s gubernatorial race, according to a new poll."](CNN) - Republican-turned-independent Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island has a narrow lead in his state's gubernatorial race, according to a new survey conducted by Brown University.
The poll, released late Tuesday, shows that the former Republican senator would defeat the leading Democratic candidate, State Treasurer Frank Caprio, by 6 points, 34-28 percent.
Republican candidate John Robitaille, a former aide to current Gov. Don Carcieri, registers 12 percent in the survey. About a third of voters say they remain undecided.
The poll also said that Chafee would soundly defeat state Attorney General Patrick Lynch, another Democrat seeking the gubernatorial nomination, by a 32-17 percent margin. In both scenarios, Chaffee draws support from a third of Democratic voters and 40 percent among independents.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/12/art.kennedy.1025a.gi.jpg caption="Rep. Patrick Kennedy will not seek re-election."]Washington (CNN) - Rep. Patrick Kennedy already had a Republican challenger, businessman John Loughlin, before he decided to retire from his Rhode Island seat late Thursday.
Now that Kennedy is out of the race, another Republican might jump in: Rhode Island GOP chairman Giovanni Cicione.
"I am more than interested," Cicione told CNN Friday. "I would love to do it, I just don't know if I am in a position to do it."
Cicione predicted that more Republicans might decide to pursue the open seat, which leans Democratic. Several Rhode Island Democrats have already expressed interest in succeeding Kennedy.
"I think we are going to see a lot of activity on the Republican side," said Cicione, an attorney who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1996. But, he added, "John Loughlin is a good candidate and I want to see him succeed."
The Rhode Island GOP has been plagued by infighting between moderates and conservatives in recent months, with conservative elements recently banding together to demand Cicione's ouster over the question of whether to keep Republican primaries open to independent voters. Ciocione favors doing so.
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