Rhode Island Democratic Rep. David Cicilline
This is very thin, but Kate Nagle of GoLocalProv speculates that former Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, who came in second in last year's Democratic gubernatorial primary, might be interested
in challenging Rep. David Cicilline, who is also a Democrat. The only evidence in favor of such a notion is that Taveras recently bought a house in Rhode Island's 1st District, though it's worth noting that he didn't respond when asked for comment earlier in the week.
Cicilline has found himself in weak shape almost from the moment he first won office in 2010. During his first term, new revelations emerged about the poor shape of Providence's finances (where he'd been mayor), ultimately forcing Cicilline to apologize for having claimed that the city had been in "excellent financial condition" when he first ran for Congress. He won renomination in 2012 with just 62 percent of the vote (soft for an incumbent), and won re-election that fall with only 53 percent, despite sitting in a very blue district that state lawmakers had actually shored up for him.
Most scandals tend to fade over time, so you'd expect the effects of Cicilline's past deceptions about Providence's balance sheets to resonate less now. But even in 2014, he only took 63 percent in the Democratic primary against a no-name opponent, and Taveras would be able to put up a much stiffer fight. It would also get ugly: As Nagle notes, Taveras, who succeeded Cicilline as mayor, often blasted his predecessor for the city's woes, and it got under Cicilline's skin.
Taveras, however, underperformed expectations when he ran for governor in 2014. While he came in to the race as the obvious progressive standard-bearer, he never was able to mobilize the union support that should have come out heavily for him. Instead, state Treasurer Gina Raimondo, who had angered organized labor with her push for pension reform, defeated Taveras by a wide 42-29 margin. (Raimondo went on to win the general election, too.)
To go forward, Taveras would have to demonstrate that he learned from his mistakes, and he'd also have to offer a compelling argument as to why Cicilline should be dumped. For now, though, this is all very speculative, so we'll just have to wait to hear more from Taveras himself.