Wes Watkins

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Wesley Wade "Wes" Watkins (b. December 15, 1938) is a politician from the state of Oklahoma.

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Entry into politics 3 Attempts at running for governor 4 Return to Congress 5 Retirement from Congress 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Early life and career

Watkins was born in De Queen, Arkansas but moved to Oklahoma as a boy. He graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1960, receiving a master's degree from that same school in 1961. After a brief stint working for the USDA, he worked as an administrator at his alma mater from 1963 to 1966. Later, he spent two years heading one of the first economic development districts in the country, based in Ada.

[edit] Entry into politics

Watkins became active in Democratic politics in the early 1970s, and was elected to the Oklahoma State Senate in 1974. Two years later, U. S. House Speaker Carl Albert announced his retirement after 30 years representing Oklahoma's 3rd Congressional District. The district, which was based in the southeastern part of the state and known as Little Dixie, was heavily Democratic in both local and national elections. After defeating Albert's Administrative Assistant Charles Ward in the Democratic primary runoff, Watkins gained Albert's endorsement and won with 82% of the vote in the general election. He was re-elected six more times, always by close to 80% of the vote. For most of this time, he served on the Budget or Appropriations Committees, allowing him to bring large amounts of money to his mostly rural and agricultural district. He was also very active in oil and natural gas issues.

[edit] Attempts at running for governor

Watkins didn't seek an eighth congressional term in 1990, but instead ran for the Democratic nomination for governor. He lost to eventual winner David Walters, whose campaign's tactics so enraged Watkins that he ran for governor again in 1994, this time as an independent. He only won 23% of the vote. However, his independent candidacy siphoned off enough votes from Lieutenant Governor Jack Mildren, the Democratic candidate, to allow Frank Keating to become only the third Republican governor in Oklahoma history.

[edit] Return to Congress

In 1996, Bill Brewster, a Democrat and former state representative from Madill, Oklahoma who had succeeded Watkins in the 3rd District, decided to retire from Congress. Watkins made no secret of his desire to get his old seat back. He finally decided to run as a Republican after that party's House leadership promised him a seat on the Ways and Means Committee with full seniority (from when Watkins was a Democrat on the committee) if he was able to win. No congressman had ever served on all three of the major financial committees (Appropriations, Budget and Ways and Means) before. Despite Albert endorsing Watkins' Democratic opponent, Watkins won a narrow victory--the first politically competitive race in the 3rd District in decades. He became the first Republican to represent Little Dixie since Oklahoma joined the Union in 1907. He initially planned to retire for good in 1998 after undergoing brain surgery, but was persuaded to run again. He was handily re-elected that year and faced no major-party opposition when he ran for his third term in 2000.

Watkins' voting record in his first period in Congress had been characterized as somewhat moderate, but during his second term he became more staunchily conservative.

[edit] Retirement from Congress

Oklahoma lost a congressional seat after the 2000 census due to slower than expected population growth. After receiving indications that his home in Stillwater (where he had lived since 1990) would be drawn out of the 3rd district, Watkins announced he would retire for good. In an indication of how much his politics had changed since leaving the House for the first time, Watkins served as honorary chairman for conservative Senator Jim Inhofe's bid for a second full term.

[edit] See also

• Politics of Oklahoma
• Oklahoma Congressional Districts
• Oklahoma Democratic Party
• Oklahoma Republican Party
• Little Dixie
• Party switching in the United States

[edit] External links

• Wes Watkins at Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress