Cool Moose party founder Robert Healey, R.I. original, has died

Robert J. Healey Jr. was a fixture at Rod’s Grille in Warren — so much so that words became unnecessary. With a nod of his head and a playful look to the kitchen staff, he’d have his breakfast ordered: french fries with a cup of black coffee.

Healey, who ran for governor four times and lieutenant governor three times, went largely unnoticed to other customers, hiding behind his long, curly hair and thick beard, said owner Ray Rodrigues. But that was him, “a low-key kind of guy.”

“He really looked like he rolled out of the '60s,” said Rodrigues, who witnessed many a business breakfast over his shop’s epoxy table tops. “But he was sincerely one of the smartest guys I’ve ever met."

He continued: “The smaller you are, the more he would want to help you.”

Healey, founder of Rhode Island’s Cool Moose Party and a fixture on the state's political scene for many years, died Sunday, according to police.

Healey, 58, was discovered by a friend in his home on Sowams Road, in Barrington, just before 10 p.m. Sunday, the police said. Healey was lying in his bed under blankets, as if sleeping. The police have ruled it a “sudden death” pending a full report from the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Though he never held a state office, his message and his face were well-known across the state. Known for his disheveled look, he told reporters his appearance was often compared to that of Jesus, John Lennon, Frank Zappa and Rasputin.

"My greatest asset is that people underestimate me," he once told The Journal while campaigning.

His colorful style was showcased in his campaign slogan from 1998: “Healey for Governor. Why not? You've done worse."

But despite the modest slogan, Healey had the résumé to back it up.

After graduating from Warren High School in 1975, he went on to earn two bachelor of arts degrees, two master’s degrees and a doctor of law degree, and also completed coursework for a Ph.D at Columbia University.

He was elected to the Warren School Committee in 1982, serving as chairman until 1986. He also served as the secretary for the Bristol County Bar Association at that time, and remained in that position for the rest of his life.

He served as the chairman of the Cool Moose Party from 1994 to 1998. The party’s message was populist at its core: less government intervention, a strict reading of the U.S. Constitution and fiscal conservatism.

“People have not given up their sovereignty to their government," Healey said at a political convention in 1995.

 In 1998, the Cool Moose Party successfully sued the state of Rhode Island to change its primary election laws to allow third-party candidates, setting a standard here and across the country.

Healey was born in Providence on May 3, 1957, to Robert Healey, a plumber, and Mary Healey, a handkerchief factory worker, according to a biography on his campaign website.

Healey shot into the public eye with his memorable bids for top state offices. He entered the 2014 gubernatorial race late, as the candidate of the Moderate Party, and claimed 21.4 percent of the vote while spending less than $40 on his campaign. He launched his bid for lieutenant governor in 2010 on an unlikely platform, promising to abolish the office, but captured 39 percent of the vote.

But there was much more to him than his quirky campaign swag — wooden nickels reading “In Bob We Trust” on the front and "Coin Equal to the Value of Lt. Governor's Office Worthless" on the back; Healey-for-Lieutenant-Governor "Nothing Never Felt So Good Condoms.”

He was a lawyer and entrepreneur whose Uruguayan land investments and former restaurant and liquor stores made him a millionaire. Yet he was not one to boast about his wealth — he drove a 1990-something red Ford Aspire that he bought for $800, he told The Journal in one interview.

Governor Raimondo said she was “saddened to hear” about his passing.

“My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. I will miss his passion and willingness to engage in spirited debate,” she wrote in a statement to The Journal.

His message will outlive him, said State Sen. John Pagliarini Jr., R-Tiverton. Pagliarini ran against Healey in the 2002 in the lieutenant governor’s race, and kept in touch afterward.

“I promised if elected I would submit a bill to eliminate the office of lieutenant governor,” said Pagliarini. He’s making good on that promise. Senate Bill 2385 was introduced in February.

Pagliarini says he will seek to uphold Healey's passion for the people and for common sense.

The message, in Healey's own words, at a North Kingstown commencement address in 1995: “Be yourself. If you're not yourself, you're only acting in front of others.”