Meet the candidate

Colby Watson

A bricklayer, small-business owner, husband, and dad from Union County, running to put NC-08 first.

Colby Watson at home in Union County
Where I come from

Born and raised in Union County.

I was born and raised in Union County, where I learned early that hard work wasn't optional, it was simply a way of life. My first job was in masonry, and it taught me that anything worth building starts with a strong foundation. That lesson has stayed with me ever since.

I earned my high school diploma through homeschooling and went directly into the workforce because college wasn't an option for me at the time. Like many young people, I didn't have a clear path forward. I worked in construction and farming, where I learned the value of hard work, persistence, and showing up every day.

Colby Watson laying brick on the job
I built it myself

A small business, with my own two hands.

At 23, I married the love of my life, and together we've been blessed with two children. Around 25, I began to find real direction and started making plans to go into business for myself.

For more than a decade, I've been a small business owner. That experience has given me firsthand insight into creating jobs, making payroll, supporting working families, and solving real-world problems. I don't have a traditional four-year college degree, but I never stopped learning through books, continuing education, mentors, and decades of real-world experience building businesses and solving problems.

Colby Watson with neighbors across NC-08
One of you

Nothing was ever handed to me.

Nothing in my life has ever been handed to me. I've worked for every opportunity I've had, and I've walked in the shoes of everyday Americans facing the same struggles, sacrifices, and hard choices as the people of the district I call home.

I never planned on running for Congress. I was focused on making a living, running a business, and raising my family.

Working families across NC-08
Why I'm running

No one is coming to fix this for us.

Over the years, I've watched hardworking families struggle, even when they do everything right. I've watched the dream of homeownership slip further out of reach for young families. I've watched health care become so expensive that too many people are forced to choose between their health and their finances. And I've watched small businesses and family farms increasingly squeezed by corporate monopolies that have gained too much power over our economy.

While these challenges have continued to grow, too many elected officials have spent more time serving their own interests than solving the problems facing the people they were elected to represent. I realized that no one is coming to fix these problems for us. If we want a better future for ourselves, our children, and the generations that follow, then we have to do the work.

That's why I'm running for Congress: to restore trust, rebuild opportunity, and help build a government that once again works for the people.

My family

Home is NC-08.

Colby Watson with his wife and two children in NC-08

My own parents homeschooled me, so I learned early how much a child's future depends on parents being at the table. Today my wife and I are raising our own two children in the same community I grew up in. I'm not a politician. I'm a neighbor who still sweats the same bills you do, running so the next generation has the same shot at the American Dream that I did.

Independent by nature

I answer to you.

I'll judge every bill by one question: is it good for the families of NC-08? I'll work with anyone who is, and stand up to anyone who isn't. I don't answer to party establishments or special interests. I answer to you.

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