PROVIDENCE – A candidate who was hospitalized after a health event before this past weekend has prompted him to withdraw his push to seek the now open 1st Congressional District seat in the U.S. House.
Paul LeBon, a former Texas congressional candidate who now resides in Woonsocket, announced Monday in an email message that he is withdrawing from the race after suffering a minor stroke on July 7. LeBon said he is still hospitalized and is having Monday a cardiac procedure.
Harnessing Financial Data for Strategic Decisions in Healthcare
Financial data has immense value. It can tell you the true history of your healthcare…
Learn More
However, LeBon said he has now suffered five strokes and also a deep vein thrombosis experience three years ago. He said his doctors informed him that if he were to win the open seat in Washington, D.C., “the demand of the work and travel would likely overwhelm” him.
LeBon had entered the race among an overwhelmingly large pool of congressional candidates on a platform of bringing jobs to the Ocean State. Among his ideas were creating a microchip plant in the state to support the federal Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act, or CHIPS Act. He also suggested a plan to acquire the “dying” Providence Place mall and convert it into a medical center annex for the VA and develop the Port of Galilee into a “world class” seaside commercial port.
“But the pace of getting out and collecting 373 (of 500) signatures got the best of me,” LeBon said in an emailed statement.
LeBon said Monday he hopes another candidate would take his jobs idea as a platform for their respective pushes for the U.S. House.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
