I spoke with the Laffey camp throughout the day: They were hopeful this afternoon, and they are obviously disappointed and also a little mystified tonight. “We ran exactly the race we wanted to run,” said one of them. There is a sense that independents may have outnumbered Republican voters in the GOP primary, and that this may have played a role in Chafee’s victory. They also believe they were outspent by a factor of at least 2 to 1.