Bob Healey | |
---|---|
Personal details | |
Born |
Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
May 3, 1957
Died | March 20, 2016 Barrington, Rhode Island, U.S. |
(aged 58)
Resting place | St. Alexander's Cemetery, Warren, RI |
Political party |
Independent (Before 1994) Cool Moose Party (1994–2014) Moderate (2014–2016) |
Alma mater |
Rhode Island College Boston University New England School of Law Northeastern University Columbia University |
Website | Campaign website |
Robert J. "Bob" Healey, Jr. (May 3, 1957 – March 20, 2016) was an American attorney, businessman, educator, restaurateur and political activist. He was the founder of Rhode Island's Cool Moose Party, the state's third-largest political party from 1994 until 2002, and was a perennial candidate for statewide office. Healey ran for Governor or Lieutenant Governor a total of seven times. Running as an independent candidate in 2010, he won 39% of the vote for Lieutenant Governor, running on a platform of abolishing the office. As the Moderate Party nominee for Governor in 2014, Healey won 22% of the vote while spending less than $40 on the campaign.
Robert J. Healey was born in Providence, Rhode Island to Robert J. Healey Sr. and Mary (Martinelli) Healey on May 3, 1957. His father was a plumber and his mother a factory worker. He grew up in Warren, Rhode Island, and graduated from Warren High School in 1975. He went on to earn a Bachelor's Degree in English and Secondary Education from Rhode Island College, a Master's Degree in Reading Education from Boston University (1980), a degree in law from the New England School of Law (1983), and a Master's Degree in English Literature from Northeastern University (1985). In 1983 he began a PhD program at Columbia University, but after he had completed all the requirements, his dissertation supervisor died and he could not find a replacement.
He was elected to the Warren School Committee in 1982, serving as Chairman until 1986. His election slogan was "A Strange Man for a Strange Job". He ran for Governor as an independent in 1986. After his first run for Governor, Healey was Secretary of the Bristol County Bar association.
The Cool Moose Party (CMP) was founded by Healey in 1994 during his second gubernatorial campaign. The party's platform is "to break down the ideological barriers that have kept common sense out of our government". Healey won 9% of the vote in 1994. In 1996, twenty CMP candidates ran for office; all were defeated.