On a serious note...

Lincoln Chafee has company with Rhode Island's Democratic Secretary of State Matt Brown, a New Democrat.

Brown will try to win the Democratic nomination to unseat Republican Lincoln Chafee, who confirmed in December he will seek re-election.

"I'm running for U.S. Senate because people all across Rhode Island are facing serious problems everyday and the politicians in Washington aren't getting the job done for them," Brown said in a news release. "My parents taught me that when you see something wrong, you do what you can to fix it. That's what I did running City Year."

The news release said 500 people have joined Brown's campaign committee and he's already raised $212,000.

"It's going to take new leadership to tackle the problems people are facing in Rhode Island. We need a Senator who has rolled up his sleeves and been in the trenches working to make life better for people right here in our state. All that matters is getting the job done and getting results for people in Rhode Island," Brown said.

Brown's campaign for secretary of state is his only previous run for elected office.

He was the founder of Democracy Compact, a get-out-the-vote effort for the 2000 presidential election, and a former executive director of City Year Rhode Island.

Go Matt Brown!