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.
Watkins was born inDe Queen, Arkansas, on December 15, 1938, but grew up inBryan County. He graduated fromOklahoma State University in 1960, receiving aMaster's degree from that same school in 1961. 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.[2] From 1960 to 1967, he served in theOklahoma National Guard.[1]
Watkins 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.[3] Based in the southeastern part of the state, an area known asLittle Dixie, the 3rd was heavily Democratic in both local and national elections.[4]
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. Watkins prevailed in the Democraticprimaryrunoff and he then gained Albert's endorsement and won the general election with 82% of the vote.[5]
He was later reelected six more times, always by close to 80% of the vote.[3] For most of this time, he served on theBudget orAppropriations Committees.[1]
Watkins did not seek an eighth term in 1990, insteadrunning for the Democratic nomination forgovernor to succeed RepublicanHenry Bellmon.[1] He raised nearly $3 million for his campaign, at one point outspending his opponents by nearly $1.4 million in June 1990.[6] In the Democratic primary, he ran ahead ofHouse SpeakerSteve Lewis, yet lost to eventual winnerDavid Walters, who had been the Democratic Gubernatorial nominee four years earlier in1986.[7][8]
Watkins was openly disappointed in the lack of support from the state Democratic hierarchy, and by 1994 began referring to theOklahoma Democratic Party as an organization run by "arrogantpolitical bosses".[9] By later in 1994, Watkinsran for governor again, this time as an Independent. He only won 23% of the vote.[3] However, his independent candidacy siphoned off enough votes fromLieutenant GovernorJack Mildren, the Democratic candidate, to allowFrank Keating, aReagan 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.[10]
In1996, 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. He went on to vote with the Republican majority 97% of the time, which was far more often than when he was a Democrat in prior years, usually voting with the Democratic caucus only 50% of the time from 1974 to 1990.[11]
Watkins initially planned to retire from office in1998 after undergoing back surgery, but was persuaded to run again, shocking many Democratic insiders who had expected him to retire.[12] He was handily re-elected that year, defeating Walt Roberts. He faced no major-party opposition when he ran for his third term in2000.[13]
Watkins's 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.[11]
Oklahoma lost a congressional seat after the2000 census due to slower than expected population growth. The final map saw Watkins's district dismantled, with its territory split between three nearby districts, creating initial uncertainty as to which Republican incumbents would run again.[14] 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's former home in Ada, was drawn into theNorman-based4th district. Watkins therefore announced he would retire, in hopes that this would help prevent his fellow Republican incumbents from having to run against each other.[15] 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.[16]
After leaving Congress, he was hired as a senior legislative analyst at theWashington, D.C.–based lobbying and public relations firmFleishman-Hillard.[17]
Watkins died from a cardiac arrest in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on March 26, 2025, at the age of 86.[3][18][19]
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.[20]
| 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 |
