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Ron Watkins
Ron Watkins (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Arizona's 2nd Congressional District. He lost in the Republican primary on August 2, 2022.
Biography
Watkins graduated from Kamiak High School in Mukilteo, Washington, in 2005. He then moved to China and later lived in the Philippines and Japan. In 2018, Watkins became the administrator of 8chan, a website owned by his father, Jim Watkins, that was later renamed 8kun. Watkins resigned as administrator of 8kun in November 2020.[1][2][3]
Elections
2022
See also: Arizona's 2nd Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House Arizona District 2
Eli Crane defeated incumbent Tom O'Halleran and Chris Sarappo in the general election for U.S. House Arizona District 2 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Eli Crane (R)  | 53.9 | 174,169 |
 | Tom O'Halleran (D) | 46.1 | 149,151 | |
 | Chris Sarappo (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 76 | |
| Total votes: 323,396 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Arizona District 2
Incumbent Tom O'Halleran advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Arizona District 2 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tom O'Halleran | 100.0 | 71,391 |
| Total votes: 71,391 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Randall Friese (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 2
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 2 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Eli Crane | 35.8 | 38,681 |
 | Walter Blackman | 24.4 | 26,399 | |
 | Mark DeLuzio | 17.1 | 18,515 | |
 | Andy Yates | 6.9 | 7,467 | |
 | John W. Moore | 6.8 | 7,327 | |
 | Steven Krystofiak | 5.5 | 5,905 | |
 | Ron Watkins | 3.5 | 3,810 | |
| Total votes: 108,104 | |||
| = 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Marissa Mitchell (R)
- Myron Lizer (R)
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ron Watkins did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Watkins' campaign website stated the following:[4]
| “ |
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Our founding fathers believed that all religions should be protected. Fast forward, and now the Dirty Democrats in DC are destroying religious freedom by taking away religious exemptions for vaccinations. I will fight in DC for everyone’s religious freedoms. ELECTION INTEGRITY Without election integrity we have a dictatorship; with a dictatorship we have no other rights. The fast erosion of our rights is why election integrity is the most critical issue for voters. I will fight to correct this injustice when I get into DC. NO MANDATES Everybody’s medical decisions are a personal responsibility, not the government’s business. There is nothing in the Constitution that allows the government to control your medical care, nor do they have the right to mandate forced medical care such as vaccines for your children. In DC, I will make it my responsibility to keep the government out of your health decisions. SECOND AMENDMENT The Second Amendment is very clear: the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. In Congress, I will be a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment. DIGITAL RIGHTS In the digital age, people now express free speech and assembly online. Thus, any intervention by Congress collaborating with Big Tech to censor online free speech and assembly is unconstitutional. Congress coerces Big Tech into censorship – this must stop. When I get into DC, I will work on legislation to bring back our rights in the digital age. HUMAN TRAFFICKING Strong borders are quintessential to securing our country and preventing human trafficking. In Congress I will work hard to continue strengthening the border and bringing peace and prosperity to Arizona.[5] |
” |
Noteworthy events
Interviewed in HBO documentary Q: Into the Storm; denied being "Q"
In the 2021 HBO documentary Q: Into the Storm, director Cullen Hoback interviewed Watkins and his father about 8chan/8kun as the place where the "Q" of QAnon posted messages. According to CBS News, "QAnon purports that America is run by a cabal of pedophiles and Satan-worshippers who run a global child sex-trafficking operation[.] ... The information supposedly comes from a high-ranking government official who posts cryptic clues ... under the name 'Q.'"[6] According to the New York Times, the documentary "built a case that Ron Watkins was behind the messages, and in it Mr. Watkins briefly seemed to admit that he had written as Q."[7] In the documentary, Watkins said, "It was basically three years of intelligence training, teaching normies how to do intelligence work. It was basically what I was doing anonymously before, but never as Q. ... Never as Q. I promise. I am not Q."[8] In October 2021, Watkins told CBS News, "I am not Q. I never have been Q. I've never written a Q post. I've never collaborated with the people that have written a Q post."[9]
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Seattle Times, "Seattle man wonders if his childhood friend is the leader of Q-Anon," April 13, 2021
- ↑ Arizona Mirror, "Ron Watkins hopes to move from QAnon to Congress. And he needs Arizona voters to do so." October 21, 2022
- ↑ The Daily Beast, "QAnon’s Home 8kun Is Imploding—and Q Has Gone Silent," updated November 13, 2020
- ↑ Ron Watkins 2022 campaign website, "Issues," archived August 2, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ CBS News, "What is the QAnon conspiracy theory?" updated March 29, 2021
- ↑ New York Times, "Who Is Behind QAnon? Linguistic Detectives Find Fingerprints," February 19, 2022
- ↑ Insider, "After the identity of 'Q' may have been revealed in a documentary, QAnon followers are calling it 'fake news,'" April 8, 2021
- ↑ CBS News, "QAnon promoter Ron Watkins is running for Congress in Arizona," October 29, 2021
