Wesley Wade Watkins (born December 15, 1938) is an American politician from the state of Oklahoma. Watkins is a retired member of the United States House of Representatives where he had represented for 14 years as a Democrat and then for six years as a Republican. Early life and career Wesley Wade Watkins was born to Losie Virgil Watkins Sr. and Mary Etta Johnson Watkins. Wes has one older sister, Mary Althea Yeats Watkins and an older brother, Losie Virgil "L.V." Watkins Jr. 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 United States Department of Agriculture, he worked as an administrator at his alma mater from 1963 to 1966. During that time, he was initiated into Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity as an honorary member while serving as their faculty advisor. In 1972, he was elected to the Common Cause National Governing Board. Later, he spent two years heading one of the first economic development districts in the country, based in Ada. Entry into politics Watkins became active in Democratic party 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 the 3rd District. Based in the southeastern part of the state, an area known as Little 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. 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 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, and took particularly strong interest in economic development issues for his rural district. Campaigns for Governor Watkins did not seek an eighth term in 1990, instead running for the Democratic nomination for