Rhode Island Man Nearly Wins Governor’s Race With $35 Campaign

Thirty-five dollars can barely buy a tank of gas in the current economic climate, but Bob Healey, a Rhode Island man who ran for governor this week during Tuesday’s midterm election, arguably got more bang for his buck than one would expect .

Healey didn’t technically win this week’s gubernatorial race in Rhode Island, but did end up garnering nearly a quarter of the total votes cast in that state’s big election on Tuesday, and with hardly much monkey, to say the least.

Despite spending only $35.31 on his campaign for governor, the Moderate Party candidate received 67,707 votes during this week’s election, or around 22 percent of all ballots combined.

It’s amazing what $35 can do,” Healey told Eyewitness News on Wednesday. “As I’ve been saying, if we only spent $75, $80, we might’ve won the race.”

The Washington Post reported that a political analyst that appeared on the Providence, RI-based news outlet on Election Day agreed that Healey did beyond just about everyone’s expectations.

“I don’t think anybody expected Bob Healey to get that high,” the analyst said. “We expected Bob Healey in double figures, maybe as high as 14 or 15 percent, but he really drew a lot of votes. Some communities he actually won, if I remember seeing the numbers correctly. He ran second in some communities.”

Healy first ran for governor in 1986 as an independent, and since 1994 he has sporadically campaigned for office under the self-made Cool Moose Party. Never before, however, has he performed as well in such a big race as what was seen after votes were tallied following the closing of polls late Tuesday.

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