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Vinson Watkins
Vinson Watkins (Republican Party) (also known as Vince) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Georgia's 8th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.[source]
Watkins is also running for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Georgia. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.[source]
Watkins completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Vinson Watkins was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Watkins studied at Mercer University. His career experience includes working as a writer/editor and author.[1][2][3][4]
Elections
2026
See also: Georgia's 8th Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for U.S. House Georgia District 8
The following candidates are running in the general election for U.S. House Georgia District 8 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Austin Scott (R) | |
 | James Cooper III (D)  | |
 | Kelly Esti (D) | |
 | Justin Laster (D) | |
| Justin Lucas (D) | ||
 | Vinson Watkins (R) | |
| ||||
| = 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. | ||||
See also: United States Senate election in Georgia, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for U.S. Senate Georgia
The following candidates are running in the general election for U.S. Senate Georgia on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Jon Ossoff (D) | |
 | Reagan Box (R) | |
 | Earl Carter (R) | |
 | Christina Loren Clement (R) | |
 | Mike Collins (R) | |
| Derek Dooley (R) | ||
| Christoph La'Flare Chapman (R) | ||
| Rick Temple (R) | ||
| Vinson Watkins (R) | |
 | Elbert Bartell (Independent) | |
| Chris Capparell (Independent) | ||
| DeVelle Jackson (Independent) | ||
| ||||
| = 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- John King (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2024
See also: Georgia's 8th Congressional District election, 2024
Georgia's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (May 21 Democratic primary)
Georgia's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (May 21 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Georgia District 8
Incumbent Austin Scott defeated Darrius Butler in the general election for U.S. House Georgia District 8 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Austin Scott (R) | 68.9 | 231,547 |
 | Darrius Butler (D) | 31.1 | 104,434 | |
| Total votes: 335,981 | |||
| = 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
- Justin Laster (D)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Georgia District 8
Darrius Butler defeated Vinson Watkins in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Georgia District 8 on May 21, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Darrius Butler | 71.6 | 15,755 |
| Vinson Watkins | 28.4 | 6,236 | |
| Total votes: 21,991 | |||
| = 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
- Justin Laster (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Georgia District 8
Incumbent Austin Scott advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Georgia District 8 on May 21, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Austin Scott | 100.0 | 59,537 |
| Total votes: 59,537 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Watkins in this election.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Vinson Watkins has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Vinson Watkins asking him to fill out the survey. If you are Vinson Watkins, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for. More than 22,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.
You can ask Vinson Watkins to fill out this survey by using the button below or emailing vince@vincewatkins.org.
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Vinson Watkins completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Watkins' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- Restoring a woman’s right to bodily autonomy must be restored.
- Preserving the separation of church and state.
- Today’s GOP is a mob of fascists. I mean to restore the party of Lincoln and make being a Republican actually about serving the republic we call the United Stares.
Of course I have personal heroes like Frederick Douglass, Harry Chapin, Carl Sagan, etc.
I have Young Onset Parkinson’s Dissase. For two decades, it has ravaged my body and left me disabled. But I still have my mind and I feel a duty to put it to patriotic use.
Preserving the Constitution and passing laws that serve the citizens.
Beware the man of one book.
Transitioning America and the world toward nuclear energy and away from fossil fuels as we try to mitigate the coming effects of climate change.
All while preserving the liberty and safety of our citizens, and fostering opportunity, health, and a modernized infrastructure.
Saving family farms. Raise the minimum wage to $15 with an automatic cost of living increase every year.
The trick is learning to compromise on details without compromising oneself and one’s principles.
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.
2024
Vinson Watkins completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Watkins' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am disabled with Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease. There are so many things I can no longer do, but I want to focus on what I can do.
I’m 57 and have had PD for 2 decades now. I want to make a difference. I want to make a contribution to my home state while I still can. I am a believer in individual rights, the Constitution, and common sense.- I believe in serving constituents, listening to their concerns, and addressing them.
The craziness of the far right and far left achieves nothing but conflict. I can be awake without being “woke.”
Protecting Georgians, our rights, and the Constitutional Republic we love. - Women’s rights are under attack from the far left and the far right. The empowerment of women is necessary to the success of our mighty republic.
- We have enough lawyers and businessmen in Washington. They appease whomever throws them that sweet sweet SuperPac sugar. They get richer in the stock market as they legally engage in insider trading. It’s time to send a poor wretch like me. I will not play the stock market while in office. But I will do everything I can to cut taxes on Diesel. Truckers built our highways with massive taxes. Cutting taxes on diesel will put more money in the hands of truckers, farmers, and consumers.
Benjamin Franklin because he told it like it is. That’s why people like Trump. That’s why Georgians will love me.
The writing of Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Frederick Douglass, Eleanor Roosevelt, George Carlin, Dave Chappelle, and Aaron Sorkin.
And “dancing with the one that brung ya.”
These qualities come from core values like honesty, dignity, loyalty, and making damn sure you do your homework.
And a ridiculously high IQ helps.
Securing our borders, protecting social security and Medicare, and making sure medical care is denied to no American.
Or rather it would be if representatives did not have to spend most of their time raising money for the next campaign.
We need honest legislation without such riders.
Not the retaliatory and baseless abuse of power we see today.
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.
Note: Watkins submitted the above survey responses to Ballotpedia on March 1, 2024.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 2, 2023
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 1, 2024
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 22, 2024
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 22, 2024
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