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Wes Watkins | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOklahoma's3rd district | |
| In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Bill Brewster |
| Succeeded by | Frank Lucas |
| In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1991 | |
| Preceded by | Carl Albert |
| Succeeded by | Bill Brewster |
| Member of theOklahoma Senate from the 13th district | |
| In office November 5, 1974 – 1976 | |
| Preceded by | George A. Miller |
| Succeeded by | James W. McDaniel |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Wesley Wade Watkins (1938-12-15)December 15, 1938 De Queen, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Died | March 26, 2025(2025-03-26) (aged 86) Stillwater, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic (before 1994) Independent (1994–1996) Republican (1996–2025) |
| Education | Oklahoma State (BS,MS) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Service years | 1960–1967 |
| Unit | Oklahoma Air National Guard |
Wesley Wade Watkins (December 15, 1938 – March 26, 2025) was an American politician from thestate ofOklahoma. Watkins was a member of theUnited States House of Representatives where he representedOklahoma's 3rd congressional district for 14 years as aDemocrat and then for six years as aRepublican.
Wesley Wade Watkins was born to Losie Virgil Watkins Sr. and Mary Etta Johnson Watkins. Wes had one older sister, Mary Althea Watkins Yeats and an older brother, Losie Virgil "L.V." Watkins Jr.[citation needed] Watkins was born inDe Queen, Arkansas, on December 15, 1938, but grew up inBryan County.[1] He graduated fromOklahoma State University in 1960, receiving aMaster's degree from that same school in 1961.[2] While at OSU, he was the president of the student body and student senate.[1]
After a brief stint working for theUnited States Department of Agriculture, he worked as an administrator at his alma mater from 1963 to 1966. During that time, he was initiated intoTau Kappa Epsilon fraternity as an honorary member while serving as their faculty advisor.[3] From 1960 to 1967, he served in theOklahoma National Guard.[1]
Watkins became active in Democratic partypolitics in the early 1970s,[citation needed] and was elected to theOklahoma State Senate in 1974.[1] Two years later,U.S. House SpeakerCarl Albert announced his retirement after 30 years representing the 3rd District.[2] Based in the southeastern part of the state, an area known asLittle Dixie, the 3rd was heavily Democratic in both local and national elections. Watkins faced a formidable opponent in Albert's popular longtime Chief of Staff and Administrative Assistant, Charles Ward. However, Watkins had closer local ties in the district, while Ward had spent decades in Washington.[citation needed] Watkins prevailed in the Democratic primary runoff and he then gained Albert's endorsement and won the general election with 82% of the vote. He was reelected six more times, always by close to 80% of the vote.[2] For most of this time, he served on theBudget orAppropriations Committees,[1] allowing him to bring large amounts of money to his mostlyrural andagricultural district.[citation needed] He was also very active inoil andnatural gas issues, and took particularly strong interest in economic development issues for his rural district.[citation needed]
Watkins did not seek an eighth term in 1990, insteadrunning for the Democratic nomination forgovernor to succeed RepublicanHenry Bellmon.[1] He raised $3 million for his campaign, the most ever raised for a gubernatorial bid in Oklahoma at the time. In the Democratic primary, he ran ahead of House Speaker Steve Lewis, yet lost to eventual winnerDavid Walters, who had been the Democratic Gubernatorial nominee four years earlier in 1986.[citation needed]
Watkins was openly disappointed in the lack of support from the state Democratic hierarchy.[citation needed] In 1994, Watkinsran for governor again, this time as an Independent. He only won 23% of the vote.[2] However, his independent candidacy siphoned off enough votes fromLieutenant GovernorJack Mildren, the Democratic candidate, to allowFrank Keating, a Reagan administration official, to become only the thirdRepublican governor in Oklahoma history at that point. Watkins tallied over 233,000 votes, far more than Keating's 171,000-vote margin over Mildren. He won by heavy margins in rural areas, particularly his former congressional district, winning many of the counties there by large margins.[citation needed]
In 1996, Brewster decided to retire from Congress as it became known that Watkins wanted his seat back. TheRepublican House leadership persuaded Watkins to run as a Republican, seeing a chance to win a seat where they had never made a serious bid since Oklahoma joined the Union in 1907. They promised Watkins a seat on theWays and Means Committee with full seniority if he ran as a Republican and won. 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, State Senator Darryl Roberts, Watkins won a narrow victory, becoming the first Republican to represent Little Dixie since statehood (it had previously been the 4th District from 1907 to 1915, and had been the 3rd since 1915).[citation needed]
Watkins initially planned to retire from office in 1998 after undergoing back surgery, but was persuaded to run again. He was handily re-elected that year, defeating Walt Roberts. He faced no major-party opposition when he ran for his third term in 2000.[citation needed]
Watkins' voting record in his first period in Congress had been characterized as somewhatmoderate. During his second period, however, his voting record was stronglyconservative, usually receiving ratings in the high 90s from theAmerican Conservative Union.[citation needed]
Oklahoma lost a congressional seat after the2000 census due to slower than expected population growth. The final map saw Watkins' district dismantled, with its territory split between three nearby districts. His home in Stillwater (where he had lived since 1990) was drawn into the western Oklahoma-based 3rd district (the former 6th district), represented by fellow RepublicanFrank Lucas. Most of his old base in Little Dixie was merged into theMuskogee-based2nd district. The western portion, including Watkins' former home in Ada, was drawn into theNorman-based4th district. Faced with the prospect of running in territory that he did not know and that did not know him, 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 conservativeSenatorJim Inhofe's bid for a second full term.[citation needed]
After leaving Congress, he was hired as a senior legislative analyst at theWashington, D.C.–based lobbying and public relations firmFleishman-Hillard.[4]
He died on March 26, 2025, from cardiac arrest in Stillwater, Oklahoma.[2][5]
After retirement, Wes Watkins continued to focus on issues of economic development, global hunger, global trade, and utilizing innovative technologies to address these issues. He founded a non-profit ministry, Matthew 24.40 Foundation, to provide scholarships for students to install hydroponics systems in diverse global locations to address issues of hunger.[6]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOklahoma's 3rd congressional district 1977–1991 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOklahoma's 3rd congressional district 1997–2003 | Succeeded by |
