This article was originally published by Rhode Island Current on July 8, 2026. It is republished here under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Any views expressed are the author’s and do not reflect those of Independent Political Report or the Outsider Media Foundation. Featured image added by Independent Political Report. Title amended for geographic clarity. IPR encourages readers to support the author and publication by also visiting the original article.
Caleb Carr served only seven months as Rhode Island governor before mysteriously drowning in Narragansett Bay in 1695. Now, one of his descendants is running for the same office and racing against time too: He has 10 days to collect 1,000 signatures.
Robert “Bobby” Carr is making a longshot bid for governor in this year’s election, jaded by the U.S. party system established well after his colonial ancestor’s short-lived term. The 50-year-old farmer from Little Compton — who works in Tiverton — is one of nine independents who declared their candidacies in the 2026 gubernatorial race.
To qualify for the ballot, candidates must submit nomination papers, which require them to gather validated signatures from registered voters. The number of signatures depends on which office the candidate is seeking, ranging from 50 for a state representative to 1,000 for governor, president and U.S. senator.
Nomination forms became available on Tuesday, June 30, and are due back to the local canvassing boards for review and signature verification by 4 p.m. Friday, July 10.
Rhode Island’s Democratic and Republican parties organize events at local restaurants, clubs and other venues where candidates can meet with large groups of registered voters to collect lots of signatures in just a few hours. But unaffiliated candidates have no choice but to go to the voters.
That’s why Carr was standing under the awning in front of the Dunkin’ on East Main Road in Portsmouth on a rainy Monday afternoon. In 90 minutes, he collected only 12 signatures.
“This is not the easiest thing in the world,” Carr said. “My chances are probably, of getting on the ballot, it’s probably somewhere around the same thing as winning the Powerball.”
In 2022, four independent gubernatorial candidates pulled papers, but only two of them met the signature requirements to qualify for the general election ballot.
“It certainly is more difficult for independents because they don’t have that party apparatus,” said John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island. “Political parties have institutional knowledge, and they can help candidates guide them from this process.”
Even the most recognizable independent governor candidate, Ken Block, is feeling the pressure of the sprint for signatures.
“It’s a do-or-die type thing,” said Block, who previously ran for governor as a Republican in 2014 and for his self-founded Moderate Party in 2010. “You either deliver the signatures or you’re out.”
Candidates can bring on contractors or volunteers to help with signature collection. Block said he has four circulators working to collect signatures.
“Because those statewide offices require such a large number of signatures, really one person can’t reasonably collect that many during the period,” Marion said. “There’s a need to have help.”
Outsourcing signature collection comes with risks, though. During the 2023 special Democratic primary for Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District, Sabina Matos, a perceived front-runner, was found to have turned in forged signatures, including names of dead people, on her nomination papers. Two campaign workers hired by Matos’ campaign were later sentenced on felony charges for the fake signatures. Matos maintained her innocence, and was never charged, but finished a distant fourth in the nine-way primary.
Anyone over the age of 18 can collect signatures for a candidate. Once signed, nomination papers must be delivered to their respective local canvassing offices, where signatures must be matched with voters registered in that town or city. Papers for federal and state positions are sent to the Department of State Elections Division for final certification.
For signatures to be valid, voters must sign sheets designated for the city or town they are registered in. Because of those stipulations and others outlined in state law, many collected signatures end up disqualified, which motivates candidates to collect well above the required thresholds to have a cushion.
“It’s a practice to try to get at least 50% more than the threshold because so many get invalidated,” Marion said. “The experienced candidates know you really need to get that number high to deal with the ones that aren’t qualified.”
Block is aiming for 1,700 to 2,000 signatures. Independent Julian J. Smith, a 35-year-old Providence digital entrepreneur, is looking to get 1,500.
Block said his campaign has reached voters at supermarkets, outdoor concerts and parades — as opposed to door-to-door canvassing, which he called “an extremely inefficient way to do it.”
Smith, who said he is trying to run “the first ever zero-dollar campaign,” is targeting younger voters who don’t often turn out for elections. Instead of traditional “money-based” politics, he’s using mass texts and social media posts telling voters where they can find him to ink his nomination papers.
“I want to see how it really works organically. That’s really why I’m running this year,” Smith said. “I just want to make a name for myself.”
‘The defining hurdle’
In 2010, Rhode Island elected its first-ever independent governor with Lincoln Chafee, though he later joined the Democratic Party. But the governors of all 50 states right now are either Democrats or Republicans.
Among the independents trying to emulate Chafee’s success this year is David Rocha, a 44-year-old Providence bartender. He said his frustration with prolonged infrastructure woes inspired him to run and try to “steer the ship in a different direction.”
On Thursday, July 2, Rocha said he had collected about 100 signatures as the “engine and steering wheel” of his one-man campaign. He was confident he would meet the threshold.
“It took every spare moment I’ve had in the last couple days,” Rocha said. “It’s ultimately the defining hurdle. If I get the signatures, it’s on.”
That means squeezing in signature-gathering between work and caring for his 2-year-old daughter, Nelia, Rocha said. But he’s determined to win over voters, who he views as tired of the established parties.
“At the end of the day, I think ideas win,” Rocha said.
Carr has encountered similar weariness of partisanship. While gathering signatures Monday, he was hit with a common question from potential signers: Which party are you? He answered one person with an anecdote about asking his late father about his political affiliation.
“He says, ‘Don’t ever ask anybody that,’” Carr said of his father’s response. “That’s exactly what we grew up with — don’t ask anybody.”
His father died 13 years ago. Carr still doesn’t know which party he was registered with, and he doesn’t want to know.
Carr said his gubernatorial bid is motivated by concern for his community. He recalled a customer at his farm weighing whether to buy groceries or pay her electrical bill.
“You see that they’re having a hard time,” he said. “Then it just gives you a little bit more incentive to want to fight.”
Rhode Island’s primary is Sept. 9. The general election is Nov. 3.
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