Former Republican, independent, and Democrat Lincoln Chafee vies to become Libertarian candidate for president

Lincoln Chafee, the former Republican governor and senator for Rhode Island who later became an independent, has filed paperwork to run for the White House as the Libertarian Party's 2020 presidential nominee.

Chafee, 66, registered as a Libertarian last June after moving to Wyoming, sparking speculation he would seek the party's nod to challenge President Trump in the fall. He could be joined in the race by Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, 39, who has been openly considering contesting the party's nomination after leaving the Republican Party last summer over Trump.

A website linked to the Federal Election Commission filing, made late Sunday, reads, "Lincoln leads with truth."

Chafee has flirted with both the major parties over the course of his political career, representing his state in the Senate as a Republican from 1999 to 2007, in the governor's mansion as an independent from 2011 to 2015, before launching a failed White House bid as a 2016 Democratic presidential candidate.

His foray into national politics began when the then mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island, was appointed to replace his father John Chafee, a Republican Rhode Island senator and governor, as well as secretary of the U.S. Navy, in the Senate after his death. Lincoln Chafee was reelected to Congress' upper chamber in 2000.

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Inside the Magazine: December 17

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Chafee isn't the only 2020 presidential candidate to change parties ahead of their latest White House campaign. Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, 74, who represented the state from 1991 to 1997, left the GOP in 2016 to become former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson's running mate on the Libertarian Party's ticket. In April, he announced he would try to primary Trump as a Republican.

Members of the Libertarian Party are expected to gather in Austin, Texas, from May 21 to 25, 2020, to elect their presidential nominee.