It was kind of nice getting to switch gears from, “B.J. Penn arrested for....” articles to, “B.J. Penn running for Hawaii governor” articles, but the run is almost over: Penn came in second place in his bid to win the Republican primary.
Slightly more conventional political candidate, Duke Aiona, beat Penn with 51 percent of the votes, while Penn managed to tally a respectable 25 percent. There’s still some precincts set to report in, but given Aiona’s 31,000 to Penn’s 15,000 vote lead, there’s no changing the outcome of this horse race.
UNLESS you happen to be a true believer like “The Prodigy.”
In a since-deleted Instagram Story, he (or someone on his team) declared, “It’s not over. We are not conceding.” It’s unclear whether his campaign plans to officially contest the results.
BJ Penn's team reports that he is not conceding. pic.twitter.com/ZmWHvoJjRk
— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) August 14, 2022
Throughout the day, Penn had posted numerous stories suggesting voter fraud was underway, with some of his followers claiming people were being forced to sign affidavits to vote, or being turned away full stop. This follows months of posts from Penn talking about voter fraud.
BJ's gubernatorial platform is filled with the most random things pic.twitter.com/AGJC9RiAJq
— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) July 8, 2022
Penn’s campaign has been a rollercoaster ride of strange campaign videos and social media posts. Friend of the site, Borrachinha Depot, has been meticulously archiving it all on Twitter, including this endorsement from Nate Diaz.
Nate Diaz endorses BJ Penn for governor #TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/52ZPUfKrI8
— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) July 13, 2022
Penn had a rough couple of years prior to this election campaign. In 2019, the mother of his child had a restraining order placed on him and accused him of physical and sexual abuse. Video of the former UFC champion getting knocked out in a street fight also surfaced that year. In 2020, he flipped his car and was arrested on suspicion of DUI. In 2021, earned himself a second suspicion of DUI arrest, complete with a video where he screams obscenities at the police and onlookers.
None of that seemed to affect his loyal Hawaii fans’ willingness to vote for him:
BJ Penn gets an interesting endorsement from stonesmom. pic.twitter.com/hqYCd7rOpd
— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) August 11, 2022
We’ll keep you updated on whether Penn actually concedes the election and what’s next for him now that this political chapter in his life is seemingly over.
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