For the second time in three election cycles,Rhode Island Rep. Jim Langevin will face a Democratic primary challenger for his 2nd district House seat.

This time around, the five-term congressman will be facing an electorate that is hurting in a state with the nation’s second-highest unemployment rate — 12.4 percent,

State Rep. Elizabeth Dennigan - a 12-year veteran of the State Assembly, a lawyer and an emergency nurse - has launched a campaign that she says will focus on fresh ideas for addressing Rhode Island’s woes.

Democrat Elizabeth Roberts, the lieutenant governor of Rhode Island, has decided to forgo the 2010 bid for governor that she had been mulling. Roberts will instead seek re-election to her current post.

"I want to thank all of my supporters and let them know that I will continue to work to turn the pages of politics as usual in Rhode Island," said Roberts in a statement released Wednesday afternoon. "I will continue to fight for quality health care for all; a stronger, more diverse Rhode Island economy; and honest, open and effective government."

Roberts, by choosing to pass up the race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, thins a primary field that looked crowded with prominent Democratic officeholders. Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch and state Treasurer Frank Caprio are both expected to launch campaigns for the open seat.

Rhode Island Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, a Republican, is term-limited. Democrats are targeting the 2010 race for his open seat in a state that, in most elections, is a Democratic stronghold.

Now the Democrats' field for the September 2010 primary -- which had been developing quite slowly -- is starting to come into focus. State Attorney General Patrick Lynch and Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts both have moved in recent weeks toward launching their expected candidacies to succeed Carcieri.

Roberts has begun to assemble a team of campaign consultants. The roster includes Joe Slade White, a media consultant whose clients have included Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and oilman T. Boone Pickens, who has launched a campaign advocating alternative energy; and Seth Klaiman, former finance director to Sen. Jack Reed, another Rhode Island Democrat. She has also launched a new Web site, Elizabeth Roberts for Rhode Island.

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter wasn't the only prominent Republican party-switcher in the news the past couple of days.

But former Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee -- during an appearance on MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show" to discuss Specter's switch to the Democratic Party -- managed to sow some confusion about whether he has officially entered the 2010 race for governor of Rhode Island as an independent.

Chafee, in his national TV appearance Tuesday night, seemed to confirm his plans to stage that bid, just three weeks after unveiling an exploratory committee.