AZ-1: Ron Watkins, leader of QAnon, running.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/qanon-promoter-ron-watkins-is-running-for-congress-in-arizona/

Ron Watkins, long-suspected of being "Q", the mysterious figure behind the QAnon conspiracy theory and one of the leading purveyors of the "Big Lie" that the 2020 election was stolen from President Trump, announced his candidacy for Congress in Arizona this week.


In a video posted to the social media platform Telegram, Watkins said that he was running for the Republican nomination in Arizona's 1st Congressional District to defeat the "dirtiest Democrat in the D.C. swamp," incumbent Congressman Tom O'Halleran, who has held the seat for four years.

"We must stay vigilant and keep up the pressure both here in Arizona and throughout the country to indict any and all criminals who have facilitated election fraud," Watkins said. "President Trump had his election stolen not just in Arizona, but in other states too. We must now take this fight to Washington, D.C., and vote out all the dirty Democrats who have stolen our republic."

Watkins faces State Representative Walter Blackman, former Navy SEAL Eli Crane, and Williams Mayor John Moore in the Republican Primary.

Incumbent Tom O'Halleran has filed papers to run.

[BoiseBoy]

Depending on how AZ-01 is drawn for 2022, he may actually have a shot at winning. That is scary.

[SnowLabrador]

Depending on how AZ-01 is drawn for 2022, he may actually have a shot at winning. That is scary.

If it remained as is, he'd probably still win.

[BoiseBoy]

Depending on how AZ-01 is drawn for 2022, he may actually have a shot at winning. That is scary.

If it remained as is, he'd probably still win.

As is, I don't think it would. Its PVI is R+2 (went from Trump +1 to Biden +2). The proposed version of it has a PVI of R+6.25 (went from Trump +10 to Trump +7.9).

The proposed version is FAR more GOP leaning than the current one and would absolutely elect a Q-aligned Republican candidate over O'Halleran.

[Lambsbread]

Ron literally IS Q. This is disgusting. Hope he gets nowhere.

[Tekken_Guy]

Will he even win his primary?

[SnowLabrador]

Will he even win his primary?

Yes. Almost every Republican voter believes at least some tenets of QAnon. Watkins is exactly what the GOP has become.

[Vosem]

Very cool that the leading candidates here who've announced are Watkins, who is Asian-American, and Walt Blackman, who is African-American. Diversity is very important for the modern GOP.

Will he even win his primary?

If I had to guess, I'd guess Wendy Rogers runs and wins, but it'll probably be a really crowded field where anything could happen. You never bet on first-time candidates without proven fundraising potential, but it doesn't seem impossible.

[S019]

Very cool that the leading candidates here who've announced are Watkins, who is Asian-American, and Walt Blackman, who is African-American. Diversity is very important for the modern GOP.

Will he even win his primary?

If I had to guess, I'd guess Wendy Rogers runs and wins, but it'll probably be a really crowded field where anything could happen. You never bet on first-time candidates without proven fundraising potential, but it doesn't seem impossible.

Watkins is also widely suspected to be the person who started QAnon.

[Vosem]

Very cool that the leading candidates here who've announced are Watkins, who is Asian-American, and Walt Blackman, who is African-American. Diversity is very important for the modern GOP.

Will he even win his primary?

If I had to guess, I'd guess Wendy Rogers runs and wins, but it'll probably be a really crowded field where anything could happen. You never bet on first-time candidates without proven fundraising potential, but it doesn't seem impossible.

Watkins is also widely suspected to be the person who started QAnon.

...I know, dass de joke

[Joe Republic]

Certainly when I try to think of the "dirtiest Democrat in the DC swamp", I immediately think of Tom O'Halleran.

[The Mikado]

Very cool that the leading candidates here who've announced are Watkins, who is Asian-American, and Walt Blackman, who is African-American. Diversity is very important for the modern GOP.

This feels INCREDIBLY on the nose.

Watkins is also widely suspected to be the person who started QAnon.

Probably not "started," but rather hijacked the Q account in early 2018 from its forgotten original user. Same difference, though.

[ElectionsGuy]

Will he even win his primary?

Yes. Almost every Republican voter believes at least some tenets of QAnon. Watkins is exactly what the GOP has become.

lol Most Republicans don't know what Qanon even is. Although I understand if you believe that if you listen to a lot of MSDNC.

[Schiff for Senate]

Depending on how AZ-01 is drawn for 2022, he may actually have a shot at winning. That is scary.

Says the guy with an Ammon Bundy - a militant - poster in his signature.

[Brittain33]

I wonder if he’ll be able to effectively steer contributions to his candidacy using his Q persona or if that would be too obvious, even for Q folk.

[Figueira]

All the proposed maps seem to have AZ-1 as a successor to AZ-6. Is that what we're talking about here?

[The Mikado]

All the proposed maps seem to have AZ-1 as a successor to AZ-6. Is that what we're talking about here?

Nah, he means the successor to the current AZ-01, whatever its number ends up being in the eventual numbering.

[Figueira]

All the proposed maps seem to have AZ-1 as a successor to AZ-6. Is that what we're talking about here?

Nah, he means the successor to the current AZ-01, whatever its number ends up being in the eventual numbering.

Got it. In that case he probably wins if he makes it through the primary.

[Utah Neolib]

I BELIEVE IN YOU TOM O’ HALLERAN

[NYSforKennedy2024]

He'll run on the Big Tech Bill of Rights/QAnon bulls**t and win overwhelmingly.

RIP, Democracy.