He earned degrees from the United States Military Academy at West Point, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.

In a 2015 Washington Post interview, he said he had suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2013, and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder almost a decade prior.

[6] Watkins' father, a physician, set up a political action committee (PAC) to underwrite his son's primary campaign.

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.

[10][12] 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.

[6] 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.

[19] 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.

[18] 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".

[13] 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".

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.

[4][21] On October 6, 2018, President Trump spoke at a rally in Topeka, Kansas in favor of Watkins and gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach, who later lost.

Former Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer urged State Treasurer Jake LaTurner to drop his U.S. Senate candidacy and instead run for the District 2 seat.

[30] LaTurner went on to defeat Democratic Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla in the November 3 general election.

South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham admonished his House colleagues for their tactic, calling them "nuts" for having made a "run on the SCIF".

"[19] Watkins' chief of staff denied criticism by stating that the issue as an overreaction to a simple mistake: "He just filed it incorrectly.

[45][43] Watkins is alleged to have voted unlawfully in a November 2019 Topeka City Council race and to have attempted to mislead a sheriff's detective.