Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
John Merrill (Kentucky)
John Merrill (Democratic Party) (also known as Captain Nemo) ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Kentucky. He lost in the Democratic primary on May 17, 2022.
Merrill completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
John Merrill was born in Winchester, Kentucky. Merrill's professional experience includes working as a master CNC machinist, electronics tech, teacher, and musician. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1980 to 1990. Merrill earned a bachelor's degree from Eastern Kentucky University in 1996.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. Senate Kentucky
Incumbent Rand Paul defeated Charles Booker, Charles Lee Thomason, and Billy Ray Wilson in the general election for U.S. Senate Kentucky on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Rand Paul (R) | 61.8 | 913,326 |
 | Charles Booker (D)  | 38.2 | 564,311 | |
| Charles Lee Thomason (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 145 | ||
 | Billy Ray Wilson (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 48 | |
| Total votes: 1,477,830 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- David Biery (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky
Charles Booker defeated Joshua Blanton Sr., John Merrill, and Ruth Gao in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Charles Booker | 73.3 | 214,245 |
| Joshua Blanton Sr. | 10.6 | 30,980 | ||
 | John Merrill | 9.9 | 28,931 | |
 | Ruth Gao | 6.2 | 18,154 | |
| Total votes: 292,310 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Rand Paul | 86.4 | 333,051 |
 | Val Fredrick | 3.6 | 14,018 | |
 | Paul Hamilton | 3.5 | 13,473 | |
| Arnold Blankenship | 2.6 | 10,092 | ||
 | Tami Stainfield | 2.5 | 9,526 | |
 | John Schiess | 1.4 | 5,538 | |
| Total votes: 385,698 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
John Merrill completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Merrill's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
I have never run for office before, but my commitment to the constitution, which I swore 3 times to defend with my life, is under attack.
January 6th should be a wakeup call to all Americans: we have a political party in this country whose sole purpose is to destroy America for money. The enemy is in the house, and it's the Republican party.
I believe in Medicare for All, This has a huge positive impact across the entire economy. The party who give Americans med for All will never fall out of power.
15-dollar minimum wage, some regions even more. We have Billionaires riding dicks to space, make them pay higher wages.
I will fight for Green New Infrastructure and a global response to Climate Change. It is Climate Change Mitigation now, its here, its now.
I support legislation that codifies women's reproductive rights on the federal level. I support LGBTQIA special right legislation, they are under full assault
I stand for universal accountability. Don't do the time if you can't do the time. I support a special prosecutor for the Jan 6th insurrection, fully empowered
I support term limits and the elimination of the Senate entirely.- I am running to be sure all the foreign influences tearing this country apart are flushed out and removed.
- Medicare for All. I will die on that health care Hill. How ridiculous is it that we, in America, still do not have a commonsense solution to health care? Anyone concerned about government run health care, I nominate katy Porter to run the Medicare for all transition committee. Put me on it
- I pledge to represent ALL Kentuckians went sent to Washington, not just my party.
Student dept repayment options, universal vocational training
Green new infrastructure jobs for Kentucky. Solar investments for all KY homeowners, electric car incentives
I support the Police and encourage national community investment, not catch phrases, real solutions derived from, and by, those it effects most
I support community involvement, along with government and law enforcement to identify Their Problems, and seek their investment needs
I applaud and support the Biden administration's handling of a mountain of challenges, awaiting them after their non peaceful receipt of power. Covid -19, Afghanistan, the full-scale attack upon our fellow citizens right to pursue their own vision of happiness
I applaud Joe's steady hand at the wheel, and I am ready to do all I can to help him gain enough control to truly become the Greatest President ever.
We must first regain our state legislatures. Therein lies the Tea party's madness, which has aligned itself with a foreign power, namely Russia, in order to shape America into their narrow image.
You cannot gerrymander statewide races. You must put the effort into the legislatures who are attacking everyone
Doctors, nurses, scientist, teachers, law enforcement, military, farmers, caregivers, you are under attack
Women, LGBTQAI, you are under attack
Democracy, you are under attack
I am quite pleased to see people like AOC and Katy Porters in there fighting for all of us, at great peril.
But quite honestly, I want a man like myself in Washington now. Russia has finally withdrawn the vail, we see they control the Republican Taliban.
I got involved because some of my worst, cold war fears, are coming true. This is what we worried about. I once listened to a Soviet era Trawler off the coast of Africa, transmitting weather, music, and misinformation about everyone, and everything, at a particular target group of people.
We need leadership unlike any I can see across the current landscape, with a very few exceptions. There is no one with the pedigree of senator McCain on the current horizon. Maybe they are there, they just need to find the courage to get involved
I don't look up to people because everyone around me expects me too. I evaluate their works, words, actions. I have been thru a lot because I won't be lied too. What angers me the most ever since DJT came down that stair well, is what they have done to the weakest, most gullible amongst us.If you feel you need to get involved, please invest in your state legislatures. There, 1 or 2 votes have, can, and will make the difference. Forever blue
It's one thing to lie to someone about walls, but not mask, or vaccines, or elections, or education, or women's rights. But I am encouraged about what I see going on across all social media: they get around to you eventually. Sooner, rather than later, they are attacking the rights of all people. All of Us,
We must go blue. We need people like me, people who fought this enemy once already. Old cold warriors who broke their teeth on electronic warfare It's time for someone like me, to pick up the torch and guide America back into the light.
The Republican Party is a Terrorist organization.
I grew up during the greatest period of music history, period. Every area, every style. I played tuba for 9 years, so I was affected, subliminally by, johnny Carson's band, and comedians, and war, and media, and Hollywood.
The Republican Party will destroy this country for a dollar, they have no desire to do anything but bleed the stupidest people in this country to death
The republican party is the enemy, they are the greatest threat this country has ever faced in its history.
I am a scientist, we have the "Doomsday Glacier " to contend with, meaning Climate Change Mitigation. The time scale was off, we are out of time.
We can no longer afford to have the kind of Citizen's United leaders like we do now, we won't survive Republican politics for another 10 years.
Of course, they should be qualified, and yes, it would be nice if they are. All I know is I am smarter than all the republican and half the Democrats already !!
I would eliminate the Senate entirely
The Republican Taliban has politicized the Judiciary, because they are a terrorist organization
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 5, 2022
