Michael Bahry

Deep Dive

Michael Anthony Bahry is one of three names on Rhode Island's ballot for the United States Senate on November 3, 2026. The others are Jack Reed, the state's senior senator seeking re-election, and Raymond McKay, the Republican nominee; Bahry is the one independent in the race. Independents stand in no primary in Rhode Island, so he was on no ballot on September 9, 2026, when the primary was held, and he reached the November ballot a different way: he filed a declaration of candidacy in June and then collected 1,257 signatures on nomination papers, against the 1,000 that every candidate for this office must file. He is a native Rhode Islander from East Providence who worked as a laborer, carpenter and construction executive, founded Fifty-Three: Five in 2014, a Providence nonprofit that provides food and support to families and to homeless people, took two master's degrees from Providence College in theological and biblical studies, wrote a book about what Jesus taught on hell, and teaches theology at Salve Regina University. He has never held federal office, so none of the congressional votes this site tracks are his.

Peace is the frame of his whole campaign. His site calls him an Independent Man for Peace and says that if elected he "will make ending war and international conflicts his focus", that America's part in what he calls the endless wars is "not making the world safer", and that looming global war is an existential threat. The only place this war is named in any of it is the heading of one of his eight campaign videos, "Gaza Is a Tragedy", under which his campaign has written "A call for peace, not more bombs". That video is served from his own site with no transcript and was not watched here, so nothing is taken from what he says in it. Nothing anywhere on the site names the government of Israel, and nothing on it names Palestinians.

Where he does reach American money and weapons, he does it in general terms and names no country. He argues for term limits partly because long-serving members become beholden to lobbyists and donors, and says that is "particularly true when it comes to military spending and the sale of bombs and other military equipment". He says renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War "glorifies war over defense and peace" and that "War and military spending are not sustainable job programs". Announcing his campaign in June he said that peace should not be a party question: "Most Rhode Islanders and Americans want an end to endless wars, secure homes for families, and a government that serves the least among us." None of that says what the United States should send, fund or withhold here, and an empty record on that carries no implication either way.

There is one place an answer probably exists, and it does not open. His campaign says on its own site that all of its updates are posted on X, and that account serves nothing but its heading to a reader who is not signed in; his campaign's page on Facebook, and its accounts on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, are the same. Those addresses, and everything else that was read, are on his research page. You are better placed to change this than we are. Ask Bahry directly, or at a candidate forum, and send us the reply: it goes on this page in his own words, which is worth more than anything we could write about him.

The money

Checked the five lobbying groups we track; no direct 2026 support found

Research log

The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.

Every page named below was opened and read on 2026-09-20 unless the entry says otherwise. His campaign site is a single page and it was read in full, and so were his Ballotpedia page, the race page, the two reports a Newport news site published on his candidacy and on the filing of nomination papers, and his accounts as far as they are served to a reader who is not signed in. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. He has never held federal office, so none of the congressional votes this site tracks are his.

U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel

• Nothing located, at any date. No statement by him about arms transfers, weapons shipments, Foreign Military Financing, the memorandum of understanding, security assistance, a dollar figure, a condition on aid, or any bill, amendment or arms sale by name appears on his campaign site, in either report about him, or in anything else read for this card. The words Israel, Palestinian, Hamas, foreign aid, military aid, weapons and arms appear nowhere on his campaign site, which was searched for each of them.
• [Position, read 2026-09-20] The nearest thing to it is a line under the heading his campaign gives one of its videos, "Gaza Is a Tragedy": "A call for peace, not more bombs". No sender and no recipient is named in it.
• [Position, read 2026-09-20] The next nearest is in his term-limits plank, which is about the influence of money on Congress: "Long-serving members of congress become beholden to lobbyists, PACs, and donors for reelection funds. This is particularly true when it comes to military spending and the sale of bombs and other military equipment." Again no country is named. Under a standing rule on this site a statement about political money is never read as a position on weapons or funding.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

• Nothing located, at any date. Neither the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, nor humanitarian funding for Gaza, nor the aid pipeline appears anywhere in the material read for this card.

Characterization of the conflict

• [Position, read 2026-09-20] One item, and it is his campaign's own text rather than a recorded statement. His campaign site carries eight campaign videos, each with a heading and a line of description written by the campaign. The fourth is headed "Gaza Is a Tragedy" and the line under it reads "A call for peace, not more bombs". The same words are in the video element's own title attribute. The recording itself, at https://bahryforsenate.com/assets/mb-gaza.mp4 , is served by his site as an mp4 file with no captions and no transcript, and it was not watched, so nothing is claimed from what is said in it. This is the single most likely place on the public record for an answer to the question this site asks.
• [Undated, and the owner of the page could not be resolved; read 2026-09-20] A Facebook photo post that our research attributed to him. The page it sits on opened and carries the post's text as its own description, so the words below are what that page says, character for character: "Praying for the people of Gaza and the people of Israel. Praying that we all (especially me) see a bit more clearly, the image and likeness of God in people we fear and hate. Praying that our leaders, all leaders, be a voice for the innocent and a voice for mercy. This must stop. I strongly believe that Catholics and all Christians need to take the lead in stopping the madness (I know I need to do more)." The page gives the author only as "Michael" and the account name in the address is spelled michealbahry; neither that account's own page nor its about page opens, and no account of that spelling is linked from his campaign site, from his Ballotpedia page or from anywhere else read for this card. It serves no date either. Our research dated it 2024-08-21 and no page seen here carries that date. So the words are real and on a page that opened, but they are not established as his, and they are not dated. They are kept here and nowhere else, and the question is flagged. The address is https://www.facebook.com/michealbahry/photos/praying-for-the-people-of-gaza-and-the-people-of-israel-praying-that-we-all-espe/312334301965848/ .
• Nothing else located. He has not been found using the words genocide, apartheid, self-defense or terrorism about the war in Gaza, and nothing was found from him on Palestinian statehood, a two-state framework or territorial boundaries.

Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying

• [Position, read 2026-09-20] Nothing about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, about any other advocacy organization on this subject, or about money connected to any of them. What he has written about political money is the term-limits passage quoted above.
• [Position, 2026-06-08] Announcing his campaign he told What's Up Newp: "Peace shouldn't be partisan." And: "Most Rhode Islanders and Americans want an end to endless wars, secure homes for families, and a government that serves the least among us." The report describes his platform as "ending what he calls endless foreign wars and redirecting the savings to domestic needs", term limits with a pledge to serve one term, and housing, wages, health care costs and poverty. No country is named in the report.

Safety and antisemitism (context, not an answer to what America sends)

• Nothing located, at any date. His campaign's first plank, "Peace Through Faith, Mercy and Justice", is about religious liberty in general and says that "our different beliefs should be talked about in honest respectful ways by everyone, including politicians". It names no faith community and no country. No statement of his about the safety of any religious community, about campus demonstrations, or about hate crimes was found.

What the campaign site and his own pages say

• [Position, read 2026-09-20] His campaign site is one page, at bahryforsenate.com, plus a privacy page. It was read in full and searched case-insensitively for israel, gaza, palestin, hamas, zionis, aipac, antisemit, jewish, foreign aid, military aid, arms, weapon and middle east. The only hit anywhere on it is Gaza, twice, both of them the heading of the one campaign video described above. Its title line is "Michael Bahry for U.S. Senate | Rhode Island | An Independent Man for Peace".
• [Position, read 2026-09-20] The platform on that page runs to ten sections. "Peace Through Faith, Mercy and Justice" on religious liberty. "Peace & Ending Endless Wars", which says "Michael believes America's participation in the endless wars are not making the world safer, they are making it more dangerous. Looming global war is an existential threat to Rhode Island, our nation and the other eight billion people we share the planet with." and "If elected, Michael will make ending war and international conflicts his focus. He believes that there is nothing more important than protecting the innocent and doing our part in healing our broken world." Then "Peace in Politics", "Peace and Term Limits" with the passage on lobbyists and the sale of bombs, "Incumbency Is an Unfair Advantage", and "Economic and Environmental Peace", which argues that "Ending wars frees trillions for infrastructure, innovation, and education". Then four sections that are not about this subject: abortion, immigration, NATO with Russia and Ukraine, and two on transgender questions. The NATO section ends "As for the United States, I believe it's time to withdraw from NATO." A short section headed "What's in a Name?" says that renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War "was a serious mistake", that "The name itself glorifies war over defense and peace", that "War and military spending are not sustainable job programs", and that "We must focus on diplomacy-not war. Peace will bring security."
• [Position, read 2026-09-20] The eight campaign videos on the page are headed Michael Bahry for Senate, It's Time for Change, The Need for Term Limits, Gaza Is a Tragedy, Investing in War, Experience, An Independent Senator, and Is the United Nations Failing? Their one-line descriptions are the campaign's own. The two nearest this subject are "A call for peace, not more bombs" under the Gaza heading and "Russia, Ukraine, and peace over more bombs" under Investing in War. Each is served as an mp4 file from his own site, each returned a video file when asked for it, and none carries captions or a transcript. None was watched.
• [Position, read 2026-09-20] The news section of his site carries no written posts. It says instead that "All campaign updates, events, and announcements are posted on X in real time" and points at https://x.com/bahryforSenate . That account serves a reader who is not signed in only its heading, "Michael Bahry for Senate (@bahryforSenate) on X". His campaign's page on Facebook returns 400. His campaign's account on TikTok, https://www.tiktok.com/@bahryforsenate , serves only its profile line, "Michael Bahry for U.S. Senate / An Independent Man for Peace / bahryforsenate.com", with 23 followers and 263 likes; the videos on it were not read. His campaign's account on Instagram and on YouTube, and his personal accounts on X and LinkedIn, serve nothing to a reader who is not signed in.
• [Read 2026-09-20] His Ballotpedia page carries a biography supplied by his campaign, footnoted "Email communication with Bahry's campaign," June 24, 2026: born in Rhode Island, two graduate degrees from Providence College in Theological Studies and Biblical Studies, work as "a laborer, carpenter, construction executive, and business owner", the founding of Fifty-Three: Five in 2014, and a theology instructor at Salve Regina University as of 2026. The page records that he "has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey." Nothing on the page is about foreign policy.
• [Earlier record, read 2026-09-20] Providence College's own account of his book describes him as an adjunct professor of religious and theological studies at Salve Regina, gives East Providence as his hometown, records that he founded Bahry Building Company in 2011, and explains that Fifty-Three: Five takes its name from a passage in the Book of Isaiah. It is about theology throughout and reaches no political question.

The race

• [Read 2026-09-20] Three names are on the ballot for this seat on November 3, 2026: Jack Reed, the Democratic incumbent, Raymond McKay, the Republican, and Michael Bahry, the one independent. Reed and McKay were nominated in the primary of September 9, 2026, which the state certified on September 15; the state's own record of that primary is at https://electionresults.ri.gov/results/public/RhodeIsland/elections/RI2026StatewidePrimary , and it is the source this site's record cites for the result. Ballotpedia's page for the race gives the filing deadline as June 24, 2026 and records that "Raymond McKay advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Rhode Island on September 9, 2026" unopposed, and that "Incumbent Jack Reed defeated Connor Burbridge and Luis Daniel Muñoz in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Rhode Island on September 9, 2026". Allen Waters is listed there under withdrawn or disqualified candidates. That page also carries a fourth name in its general election field, on the footnoted basis of a federal statement of candidacy filed in April 2023 and nothing else; that person is not among the candidates certified for this ballot, and the page warns above the field that "The candidate list in this election may not be complete." The records of Jack Reed and Raymond McKay are on their own cards and are not narrated here.
• [Position, published 2026-07-11; read 2026-09-20] How he reached the ballot. Declarations of candidacy were filed on June 22, 23 and 24, 2026, and nomination papers were due on July 10; a candidate for the United States Senate in Rhode Island must collect 1,000 signatures and pays no filing fee, the same requirement for a party candidate and an unaffiliated one. The day after the papers were filed, What's Up Newp went through the Secretary of State's record of them for this seat and reported: "Independent Michael Anthony Bahry collected 1,257 signatures." The same report notes that candidates "will not be certified to run until elections' officials certify the signatures", that the withdrawal deadline was July 13, and that ballot placement was drawn by lottery on July 17. He is the only independent named in it: "Besides Reed, two other Democrats, a Republican and an Independent have filed for the seat." The requirement itself is set out on Ballotpedia's page on Rhode Island ballot access: "In Rhode Island, all candidates must adhere to the same filing procedure, regardless of partisan affiliation."
• [Read 2026-09-20] Identity. Every source used here joins to one man: Michael Anthony Bahry of East Providence, 58, a native Rhode Islander, construction executive turned theologian, founder of Fifty-Three: Five in 2014, two Providence College master's degrees in 2017 and 2022, author of a book on hell, theology instructor at Salve Regina University, and the holder of federal candidate identification number S6RI00288, which is the number on this site's record for him, on his Ballotpedia page's finance table and on The Green Papers' listing of this race. The one thing that does not join is the Facebook account described under Characterization of the conflict, whose owner could not be established.

Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them

• His campaign's page on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/bahryforsenate , which returns 400 on every attempt, and the video page on it that our research pointed at, https://www.facebook.com/bahryforsenate/videos/learn-more-at-httpsbahryforsenatecomplease-follow-like-and-share/1268403328632278/ , which opens but serves a reader who is not signed in nothing at all, not even the caption its own address spells out.
• The account at https://www.facebook.com/michealbahry , and its about page. Both return 400, which is why the post quoted above could not be joined to an owner.
• His campaign's account on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelBahryForSenate . It could not be opened past a consent page, and only the channel name could be read. This matters, because the eight campaign videos are the place an answer is most likely to be.
• His campaign's accounts on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/michaelbahryforsenate , and his personal accounts, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091987748361 , https://x.com/Michael_Bahry and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-bahry-a6746035 . None serves anything to a reader who is not signed in.
• Two Rhode Island news sites that cover statewide races closely, https://rhodeislandcurrent.com and https://www.wpri.com , refuse every route from here. One of them publishes a voter guide for this cycle. Nothing from either was read and nothing is claimed from either.
• The eight campaign videos themselves. Each is served, and none of them was watched.

Not on the card, and why

• The Facebook prayer post about the people of Gaza and the people of Israel. The page opened and its text is recorded above in full, but the account could not be joined to him and the page serves no date. It is the item most likely to change this card if it is his.
• A sentence our research attributed to him, that he questioned why the United States spends "so much money on weapons that destroy life". It is credited to a campaign video and to a site that does not render for us. The video's page serves no text at all and the recording was not watched, so the words could not be checked against anything. They are published nowhere on this card.
• His planks on abortion, immigration, NATO and withdrawal from it, Russia and Ukraine, transgender questions in sport and in medicine, incumbency, and the economy. Out of scope, and set out above so the absence can be checked.
• The amounts his campaign has raised and spent. Not restated here.
• The records of Jack Reed and Raymond McKay. Another candidate's positions belong on that candidate's own card.

Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)

• https://bahryforsenate.com/ and https://bahryforsenate.com/privacy (opened; 2026-09-20)
• https://bahryforsenate.com/assets/mb-gaza.mp4 and the seven other campaign videos (served as video files; not watched; 2026-09-20)
• https://whatsupnewp.com/2026/06/salve-regina-lecturer-michael-bahry-launches-independent-u-s-senate-bid/ (opened; published 2026-06-08; read 2026-09-20)
• https://whatsupnewp.com/2026/07/on-the-ballot-the-race-for-u-s-senate/ (opened; published 2026-07-11; read 2026-09-20)
• https://whatsupnewp.com/2026/06/candidates-began-to-declare-for-office-today/ (opened; published 2026-06-22; read 2026-09-20)
• https://ballotpedia.org/Michael_Bahry (opened; 2026-09-20)
• https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Rhode_Island,_2026 (opened; 2026-09-20)
• https://ballotpedia.org/Ballot_access_requirements_for_political_candidates_in_Rhode_Island (opened; 2026-09-20)
• https://news.providence.edu/bahry-hell-is-a-bad-word/ (opened; 2026-09-20)
• https://www.thegreenpapers.com/G26/RI (opened; 2026-09-20)
• https://www.facebook.com/michealbahry/photos/praying-for-the-people-of-gaza-and-the-people-of-israel-praying-that-we-all-espe/312334301965848/ (opened, and carries the post's text; owner not established; no date served; 2026-09-20)
• https://www.facebook.com/bahryforsenate/videos/learn-more-at-httpsbahryforsenatecomplease-follow-like-and-share/1268403328632278/ (opened and serves nothing; 2026-09-20)
• https://x.com/bahryforSenate and https://www.tiktok.com/@bahryforsenate (headings only; 2026-09-20)
• https://www.facebook.com/bahryforsenate , https://www.facebook.com/michealbahry , https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelBahryForSenate , https://www.instagram.com/michaelbahryforsenate , https://x.com/Michael_Bahry , https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-bahry-a6746035 (could not open; 2026-09-20)
• https://rhodeislandcurrent.com and https://www.wpri.com (could not open; 2026-09-20)
• https://electionresults.ri.gov/results/public/RhodeIsland/elections/RI2026StatewidePrimary (the state's own primary results, cited on this record; 2026-09-20)
• This is a record of what was checked on 2026-09-20, not a claim that no statement exists anywhere.