Jonathon Tepes Sharkey (born John Albert Sharkey; April 2, 1964) is an American former professional wrestler, and has been a candidate in multiple elections for public office.

Background

Sharkey was born in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in 1981. Following his discharge on medical grounds in 1983, he studied at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

. He has lived in Minnesota and resides in Florida. Sharkey has three living children, and a fourth child who is now deceased. He married Oksana Shavaryn in 2016.

Musician/actor

A drummer since the age of 5, as well as a guitarist, Sharkey is endorsed by Soultone Cymbals, and has recorded an album of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

cover songs. He has also appeared in several films, both as an actor and as a soundtrack composer.

Wrestling career

Originally a boxer, Sharkey began wrestling in 1988. He began his career with Larry Sharpe's WWA promotion, facing "Diamond Jim" Brady in a boxer vs. wrestler match. Following this, he worked with a number of other wrestling promoters including Rocky Johnson, father of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He cites his greatest wrestling influences as

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years. He is ...

and

Ricky Steamboat Richard Henry Blood Sr. (born February 28, 1953), better known by his ring name Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat, is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his work with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Jim Crockett Promo ...

Vampirism

Sharkey says he first drank blood at age five and consumed the blood of his girlfriends and mistresses twice a week. He has described his vampirism as "a very healthy thing to do" and has praised

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

for making vampire feeding practices "romantic and erotic". He drinks only women's blood because "women are beautiful... they have such beautiful necks and arms". He says he is well known within the vampire community, and says he drinks cow and pig blood. While in Tennessee he reportedly attempted to set up a colony for vampires. Sharkey was a Luciferian who "turned against God" because he would not worship a God who "caused the deaths of innocent children" and "allowed his only son to be used as a sacrifice on the cross". He compares Lucifer to the

Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, often simply referred to as the Founding Fathers or the Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colon ...

, arguing that they both exemplify the idea of rebellion against tyranny. He says he doesn't hate

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, just

God the Father God the Father is a title given to God in Christianity. In mainstream trinitarian Christianity, God the Father is regarded as the first Person of the Trinity, followed by the second person, Jesus Christ the Son, and the third person, God th ...

, and that he follows the goddess

Hecate Hecate ( ; ) is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, or snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depicted as three-formed or triple-bodied. She is variously associat ...

in addition to Lucifer.

Politics

Political campaigns

Sharkey filed with the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...

to run for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

twice as an

Independent candidate An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have polit ...

(in 2004 and in 2008) and once as a Republican candidate (in 2012). He ran for

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in at least three states—his home State of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

(1999–2000, Republican),

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

( Reform Party, 2000) and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

(2001–02, Republican). In 2006, he ran for

governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory ...

.Sharkey's defunct website related to his run for Governor of Minnesota (archived)
home page
/ref> Sharkey once served on the

Hillsborough County, Florida Hillsborough County is located in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. In the 2020 census, the population was 1,459,762, making it the fourth-most populous county in Florida and the most populous county outside the Miami metro ...

, Republican Party's executive committee. A. J. Matthews, who also served on the committee, described Sharkey as someone who believes in "Republican values" but said that Sharkey needs to focus on campaign issues rather than "extreme behaviors".

Political positions

Sharkey strongly criticized President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, whom he described as a "wuss" and a

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

who was responsible for the deaths of innocent Americans in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. He has expressed a desire to try, and convict, and impale Bush, and has since said that " Obama is even worse than Bush, and I never thought anyone could be worse than Bush. He has no idea how to run a country, nor should he be running a country." Sharkey said that he would ban

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

and the teaching of

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

in public schools. On other social issues, he leans

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

; he supported equal rights for gays. He opposed President Obama's health care reform and said that he would replace it with a plan of his own in which the poor would receive free medical and dental care; the expenses would be paid with government taxes on

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

and

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

, which Sharkey supports legalizing and regulating. On foreign policy, he wished to bring American troops home from foreign war zones. In keeping with his belief in the goddess

, he supports environmentalism and "protecting Mother Earth". He said that his ideal running mate would be former New Jersey governor

Christine Todd Whitman Christine Temple Whitman (; born September 26, 1946) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush ...

. During the 2012 election, he criticized Republican rival

Michele Bachmann Michele Marie Bachmann (; née Amble; born April 6, 1956) is an American politician who was the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2007 until 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican P ...

as "too flakey for me". He described his policy on

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

as follows: "Certain criminals, instead of being put in jail, they should be brutally tortured and impaled.... Upon them being found guilty of their crimes I'll beat them, torture them, dismember them and decapitate them." In an appearance on

Tucker Carlson Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an American conservative political commentator who hosted the nightly political talk show '' Tucker Carlson Tonight'' on Fox News from 2016 to 2023. Since his contract with Fox News was term ...

's television show, he agreed with the host's description of him as "not simply a vampire, uta right-wing vampire" and said his policy for dealing with

drug dealers The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types ...

is to "go to Sicilian families and have them attack the drug dealers for me".

Legal troubles

Sharkey was investigated by the

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security tasked with conducting criminal investigations and providing protection to American political leaders, thei ...

for threatening to impale President George W. Bush. Agents visited Sharkey at his home for questioning. A spokesman for the Secret Service said that he didn't believe the investigation was an overreaction. He was also jailed in Tennessee for making threats against an Indiana judge. Investigators confiscated two rifles and a wooden stake with spikes at his house. Sharkey's 2006 bid for Minnesota governor was cut short after Sharkey was arrested by Minnesota police on an outstanding Indiana arrest warrant, sent to Mille Lacs County jail and extradited to Indiana.Dregni, Eric (2006)
''Weird Minnesota: your travel guide to Minnesota's local legends and best kept secrets''
Sterling. pg. 99. He has also been accused of "brainwashing" a 16-year-old girl in Minnesota, whose family sought a restraining order against him, and admitted to harassing another 16-year-old Minnesota girl online. In 2010, the

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, and the Pre ...

issued an alert after a 16-year-old girl, Paige Brewer, from

Faribault, Minnesota Faribault ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Rice County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 24,453 at the 2020 census. Faribault is approximately south of Minneapolis–Saint Paul. Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highwa ...

ran away with Sharkey. The alert described Brewer as an "endangered runaway". Brewer's mother eventually won a court order keeping Sharkey away from her daughter, who was taken into custody by police and returned home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharkey, Jonathon Living people 1964 births American libertarians Florida Republicans Candidates in the 2004 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2012 United States presidential election Vampirism American Luciferians People from Elizabeth, New Jersey People from Ruskin, Florida American Satanists American atheists