Michael Bahry, a visiting lecturer at Salve Regina University and former construction executive, announced he is gathering the 1,000 signatures needed to appear on the ballot as an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate.
Bahry would be running for the seat held by Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, who is seeking re-election to a term he has held since 1997. The filing deadline for the 2026 race is June 24, with the general election set for November 3.
A lifelong Rhode Islander, Bahry has taught theology at Salve Regina for the past three years. He is pitching himself as “Rhode Island’s wildcard” — an independent swing vote unbound by party lines. He notes that nearly half of the state’s registered voters are independent and says many more think independently but feel constrained by the two-party system.
According to his campaign, Bahry began his career as a laborer and carpenter before leading construction projects worth more than a billion dollars. He earned a bachelor’s degree cum laude from Providence College while working and raising a family, and later completed two graduate degrees in theological and biblical studies. He is the author of a book on faith, founded the Providence nonprofit Fifty-Three: Five in 2014, and speaks monthly at the Providence Rescue Mission.
His platform centers on three themes: ending what he calls endless foreign wars and redirecting the savings to domestic needs; supporting term limits, including a pledge to serve a single term; and addressing the housing crisis, wages, health care costs and poverty for Rhode Island families.
“Peace shouldn’t be partisan,” Bahry said. “Most Rhode Islanders and Americans want an end to endless wars, secure homes for families, and a government that serves the least among us.”
A husband, father and grandfather living in East Providence, Bahry said he brings experience from construction sites, classrooms and nonprofit service without “Washington insider baggage.” More information is available at his campaign website.
