Changes

{{Infobox officeholder

{{Infobox officeholder

| name=Michael David Watson, Jr.

| name=Michael David Watson, Jr.

| office=Mississippi State Senator<br> for District 51 (Jackson County)

| office=Mississippi State Senator for<br> District 51 (Jackson County)

| term_start=January 2008

| term_start=January 2008

| term_end=

| term_end=January 2020

| preceded=Tommy Robertson 

| preceded=Tommy Robertson 

| succeeded=

| succeeded=Jeremy England

| birth_date=December 22, 1977

| birth_date=December 22, 1977

| birth_place=Pascagoula, [[Mississippi]]

| birth_place=Pascagoula, [[Mississippi]]

| residence=Pascagoula, Mississippi

| residence=Pascagoula, Mississippi

}}

}}

'''Michael David Watson, Jr.''' (born December 22, 1977), is a [[lawyer]] from his native Pascagoula, [[Mississippi]], who has since 2008 represented District 51 in the Mississippi State Senate. A [[Republican Party|Republican]], his district is entirely within Jackson County on the Gulf Coast of his state.<ref name=billstatus>{{cite web|url=http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/members/senate/watson.xml|title=Michael Watson|publisher=Billstatus.ls.state.ms.us|accessdate=October 18, 2017}}</ref>

'''Michael David Watson, Jr.''' (born December 22, 1977), is an [[attorney]] from his native Pascagoula,who is the current [[Mississippi]] Secretary of State. From 2008 to 2020 the [[Republican Party|Republican]] state senator for District 51 in Jackson County on the Gulf Coast of his state.<ref name=billstatus>{{cite web|url=http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/members/senate/watson.xml|title=Michael Watson|publisher=Billstatus.ls.state.ms.us|accessdate=October 18, 2017}}</ref>

Watson graduated from Pascagoula High School and attended the [[University of Mississippi]] and its law school in Oxford. A [[Presbyterian]], he and his wife, the former Lauren Emswiler, have two daughters, Gracie and Annie Watson.<ref name=pvs>{{cite web|url=https://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/69844/michael-watson#.WegIcrpFzb1|title=Michael Watson's Biography|accessdate=October 18, 2017}}</ref>

Watson graduated from Pascagoula High School and attended the [[University of Mississippi]] and its law school in Oxford. A [[Presbyterian]], he and his wife, the former Lauren Emswiler, have two daughters, Gracie and Annie Watson.<ref name=pvs>{{cite web|url=https://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/69844/michael-watson#.WegIcrpFzb1|title=Michael Watson's Biography|accessdate=October 18, 2017}}</ref>

In the 2007 Republican [[primary]] election, Watson, at the age of twenty-nine, unseated the four-term incumbent, Tommy Robertson, 4,994 (60.9 percent) to 3,204 (39.1 percent). Then in the [[general election]], he overwhelmed the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Ray Vecchio, 10,305 (74.7 percent) to 3,490 (25.3 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=

In the 2007 Republican [[primary]] election, Watson, at the age of twenty-nine, unseated the four-term incumbent, Tommy Robertson, 4,994 (60.9 percent) to 3,204 (39.1 percent). Then in the [[general election]], he overwhelmed the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Ray Vecchio, 10,305 (74.7 percent) to 3,490 (25.3 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=

https://ballotpedia.org/Mississippi_State_Senate_elections,_2007|title=Mississippi State Senate elections, 2007|publisher=Ballotpedia.org|accessdate=October 18, 2017}}</ref>In 2016, former Senator Robertson was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for embezzling from a construction loan, an offense outside his former senatorial duties.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/crime/article86204792.html|title=Former State Senator Tommy Robertson gets 10 years for embezzling from construction loan|publisher=''The Sun Herald''|date=June 27, 2016|author=Margaret Baker|accessdate=October 18, 2017}}</ref> 

https://ballotpedia.org/Mississippi_State_Senate_elections,_2007|title=Mississippi State Senate elections, 2007|publisher=Ballotpedia.org|accessdate=October 18, 2017}}</ref> In 2016, former Senator Robertson was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for embezzling from a construction loan, an offense outside his former senatorial duties.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/crime/article86204792.html|title=Former State Senator Tommy Robertson gets 10 years for embezzling from construction loan|publisher=''The Sun Herald''|date=June 27, 2016|author=Margaret Baker|accessdate=October 18, 2017}}</ref> 

Watson faced no opposition for Senate reelection in 2011. In 2015, he won his third term in the Senate with 83 percent of the ballots cast against his lone opponent, Boyd Kendall, nominee of the [[Libertarian Party]]. No Democrat filed for the race that year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Michael_Watson_(Mississippi)|title=Michael Watson (Mississippi) |publisher=Ballotpedia.org|accessdate=October 18, 2017}}</ref> 

Watson faced no opposition for Senate reelection in 2011. In 2015, he won his third term in the Senate with 83 percent of the ballots cast against his lone opponent, Boyd Kendall, nominee of the [[Libertarian Party]]. No Democrat filed for the race that year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Michael_Watson_(Mississippi)|title=Michael Watson (Mississippi) |publisher=Ballotpedia.org|accessdate=October 18, 2017}}</ref> 

In 2016, Watson co-sponsored the bill to prohibit state funds from being awarded to the large abortion provider, [[Planned Parenthood]]. He backed HB 1523, which attempts to guarantee within Mississippi protections for religious beliefs and matters of moral conscience in regard to [[Christian]]s being mandated to service [[homosexual]] activities. He co-sponsored the bill to prohibit local governments in Mississippi from establishing [[sanctuary city]] policies. In 2017, he backed the legislation which authorizes additional methods of execution in Mississippi and another measure to declare as a [[hate crime]] the targeting of law-enforcement officers by the lawless element. He was paired in favor of retaining a private contractor to audit [[Medicaid]].<ref name=voting>{{cite web|url=https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/69844/michael-watson#.WegJ8bpFzb0|title=Michael Watson's Voting Records|publisher=Project Vote Smart|accessdate=October 18, 2017}}</ref>

In 2016, Watson co-sponsored the bill to prohibit state funds from being awarded to the large abortion provider, [[Planned Parenthood]]. He backed HB 1523, which attempts to guarantee within Mississippi protections for religious beliefs and matters of moral conscience in regard to [[Christian]]s being mandated to service [[homosexual]] activities. He co-sponsored the bill to prohibit local governments in Mississippi from establishing [[sanctuary city]] policies. In 2017, he backed the legislation which authorizes additional methods of execution in Mississippi and another measure to declare as a [[hate crime]] the targeting of law-enforcement officers by the lawless element. He was paired in favor of retaining a private contractor to audit [[Medicaid]].<ref name=voting>{{cite web|url=https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/69844/michael-watson#.WegJ8bpFzb0|title=Michael Watson's Voting Records|publisher=Project Vote Smart|accessdate=October 18, 2017}}</ref>

==References==

==References==

[[Category:Conservatives]]

[[Category:Conservatives]]

[[Category:Presbyterians]]

[[Category:Presbyterians]]

[[Category:Pro-life]]

[[Category:Pro-Life]]