The Eye

Klaiman told CQ Politics, however, that Roberts has not yet set a date for making an official announcement: "There is currently no timeline in place...She's still going through the steps necessary to look at a run for governor."

Lynch, meanwhile, used an appearance on a local radio show last Friday to spell out his plans. "I have every intention of having my name on the ballot for governor," he told Vincent A. Cianci Jr., a radio talk show host and former Providence mayor, on his program "The Buddy Cianci Show."

Lynch elaborated in an interview with CQ Politics Thursday, saying, "I will formally announce, in all likelihood, sometime in the fall, But in the meantime, I will continue to do preparatory work to gain support and assess the opportunity that is before us, looking at whether we can run a successful campaign."

State Treasurer Frank Caprio is not an official candidate, but has been raising money like he intends to run for the state's highest office: He led all prospective candidates with nearly $1.1 million in his campaign treasury as of April 30. Also, an early poll, taken in March, showed him ahead of Roberts and Lynch.

The governor's office has been the anomaly of Rhode Island politics, with Republicans winning the past four elections and seven of the past nine. But the state's usual Democratic colors are evident in Barack Obama's 2008 win with 63 percent of the vote -- the party's sixth straight in presidential elections -- and the Democrats' hold on both U.S. Senate seats, both House seats and the vast majority of state legislative seats.

The Democrats' goal of a gubernatorial takeover may be abetted by the fact that Rhode Island, suffering from a long-running economic downturn, has been hit hard by the national recession.

Any of the well-known Democrats likely to run in next year's race for governor would be favored over State Rep. Joe Trillo, the only Republican to voice interest so far.

Yet the Democrats' high hopes are tempered by the fact that the governor's race likely will be the platform for a comeback attempt by independent Lincoln Chafee, who was a center-left Republican during a U.S. Senate tenure that lasted from 1999 until his 2006 defeat by Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse.

In early April, Chafee formed an exploratory committee for the governor's race. Three weeks later, he appeared to announce his candidacy during an interview on MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show," though he quickly backtracked, saying he would make no official statement until he concludes a his fellowship at Brown University's Watson Institute on June 30.

CQ Politics rates the race as Tossup.

-- Emma Dumain