When Insider called the home of Robert Gray — Mississippi's new Democratic nominee for governor — to ask a follow-up question, his roommate answered the phone.
It was his mom.
She asked who was speaking, cupped the phone, and called out his name.
Gray is a 46-year-old truck driver.
In August, he won 79 of Mississippi's 82 counties to become the nominee.
He didn't campaign. He didn't even tell his mom he was running.
Yet he managed to beat two candidates who actually spent money on campaigns and made their names known in the months leading up to the primary. Some have said Gray won because his name was first on the ballot.
His mother's first indication that her son was running came when she saw his name on the ballot. After voting for her son, she called to make sure it was him.
When Gray took that call, he was working on his truck — too busy that day to even vote for himself.
He will run against Mississippi's current governor, Republican Phil Bryant, a huge favorite who has more than $2.8 million to spend on his campaign.
"People complain about our governor," Gray told The New York Times. "I'm basically going to do the opposite of what he's doing."
Gray's platform
The first thing Gray wants to do in office is expand Medicaid, then start a lottery and work on bringing better benefits to state employees like police officers and teachers. He said his experience as a truck driver gave him a unique perspective as someone who "understands the mechanics of the economy."
He said a lot of people had told him he reminded them of flamboyant GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump. Gray appreciates the comparison but says he differs from Trump on immigration.
"He thinks that getting rid of people is going to make our country better," he said. "But it's not."
Ouida Meruvia, the communications director for the Mississippi Democratic Party, said she had never met a candidate like Gray — someone who, like Trump, seems to have no special interest.
He's Mississippi's very own populist candidate.
Can he win?
Probably not. But at least one political professional in the state believes.
Meruvia told Insider: "Mr. Gray can win the general election."
She said people in Mississippi didn't like Bryant, whose favorability rating has previously reached 41% and who was rated the most "blah" governor in the nation by the data-journalism website FiveThirtyEight.
Like many Republican governors, Bryant has refused to expand Medicaid. In a state ranked the poorest in the nation, Gray's stance on that issue could get some votes.
"Our governor is trying to hold back the state," Gray said, adding that Mississippians "know our state could be doing a lot better."
"They see the opportunities that are out there, and our governor is trying to keep us from those opportunities," he said.
Meruvia told us that Mississippi's Democratic insiders were initially worried about Gray.
"Since then, Robert has changed a lot of minds," she said. "He is truly a force to be reckoned with."
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