Ryan Watts' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Ryan Watts has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2018 Political Courage Test.
North Carolina Congressional Election 2018 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Government should not be involved in people's wombs and bedrooms. We are not here to actively encourage people to have abortions. We are here to allow people control over their own bodies. | |||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| 1) We should not raise taxes on the working and middle classes. We should make sure people pay their fair share. 2) We need to cut wasteful military spending. Some of our military branches cannot even successfully perform an audit. We need to re-focus our military spending in terms of modern warfare (e.g., cyber). | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Yes, we need to get dark money out of politics and restore representative democracy. | |||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| 1) Yes, federal spending can result in tremendous economic gains, including the building of infrastructure, which has fallen into disrepair. 2) We've just lowered corporate taxes to a reasonable level. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
| Within reason. The federal government should ensure equitable education for all. States should have some leeway to educate their students, but there must be high standards for students nationwide. | |||
| Yes | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| We must expand renewable energy. The tariff on solar cells was a step in the wrong direction. We only have one planet and we must cut emissions to reduce climate change and protect our water and air. | |||
| Yes | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| I prefer the term gun-reform. It's our largest public health epidemic and we have a responsibility to take steps toward reducing suicide, homicide, and mass shootings. This includes background checks, closing the gun show loophole, raising the age to purchase to 21, banning bump stocks / high capacity magazines / military grade silencers, and removing guns (at least temporarily) from households in crisis (e.g., suicide threat, domestic abuse). | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| We need to make sure every American has access to healthcare. | |||
| No | Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border? | ||
| No | Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| A border wall is a waste of money and would not prove effective. We need a strong border, but a wall is not the right approach. Illegal immigrants should be held accountable to the law. But we must exercise our conscience as a country known for being pro-humanity. That means protecting DACA recipients and their families who are tax payers and contributors to society. | |||
| No | Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes? | ||
| This should be a state's decision and every state should have the ability to make their own decision. States rights, in at least this regard, should be protected. We support research for medicinal marijuana and expanding that program nationwide, if research continues to support it. | |||
| No | Should the United States use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| No | Do you support increased American intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts beyond air support? | ||
| A "yes or no" answer to this isn't reflective of individual circumstances. If there is a credible threat, we should take action to protect Americans. We should play a role as a peacekeeper in the Middle East and we shouldn't rule out support beyond that from the air. But we must exercise caution. We've seen what Iraq and Afghanistan have done to our military, budget, and the region. | |||
Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.