A GOP Challenger for Langevin?

With election season just around the corner, the focus has been on Congressman David Cicilline and his opponents - Republican and, possibly, Democratic.

But it appears that Congressman James Langevin may have at least one Republican opponent. Michael Riley, who ran unsuccessfully for Narragansett Town Council in 2008 and lost a GOP primary for the state Senate seat held by Democrat James Sheehan last year, has been telling Republican activists that he is planning a Congressional run.

Campaign finance records show he raised nothing for his town council race and $475 for his state Senate run, lending his campaign $1550 for the latter contest. An article in the South County Independent during his Senate run described him as a budget hawk intent on shrinking the size of government.

The Phoenix has a call into Riley and will post any comment he offers.

Republican Mark Zaccaria, who lost to Langevin last year, has announced he will not take on the incumbent again in 2012. Whoever runs against Langevin will likely struggle to get media attention, given the energy around the Cicilline race, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's bid for re-election, and the presidential contest.