of the vote, defeating six other candidates. His family's Super PAC had spent $710,010 supporting his candidacy, and $35,860 opposing Caryn Tyson, the Parscale-endorsed primary candidate who finished second. In October 2018, the Associated Press published a story questioning a number of details of Watkins' claimed background, including a debunked assertion which he had made on his website that he had been praised by outfitter Guy Cotter for his leadership among climbers on Mount Everest after the Nepal earthquake. Cotter claimed that he had never made the statement, and the assertion was removed from Watkins's website after the story was published. A New Zealand Herald story indicated that Watkins was 600 meters above the South Base Camp when the latter was hit by a deadly landslide and avalanche. Five weeks before the 2018 general election, the Kansas City Star reported that Watkins had claimed to have established a corporation when he had actually only consulted with the corporation long after it had been incorporated. Watkins' campaign described the accusations as "fake news", and Watkins himself called them "baseless opinions from people who don't know me". Watkins's residence in Kansas was disputed due to his supposed residence in Alaska. Watkins owned two homes in Alaska, but did not own a home in Kansas. Also, he had applied for the Alaska Permanent Fund dividend (a payment to those who say they plan to live in the state indefinitely have maintained residence for one year) 11 times. An open letter signed by local GOP leaders expressing concern regarding Watkins's absence from his district was made public days before the seven-way primary. According to the Associated Press, "public records show the 42-year-old Army veteran hadn’t lived in Kansas since he left high school — nearly two decades before returning to the state last year to run for Congress". Watkins's 2018 general election campaign against moderate Democrat Paul Davis was described in the U.S. News & World Report as "one of the most negative and competitive congressional races in the country". The candidates debated on October 3, agreeing on a need to protect Social Security, but disagreeing on immigration. Watkins said he was in favor of Trump's proposed border wall, saying, "That doesn't make us mean-spirited or the racist bigots that some leftists would have you believe. It's just common sense." He called for restricting health care spending, but protecting Social Security. On October 6,