governor to succeed Republican Henry Bellmon. 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 winner David Walters, who had been the Democratic Gubernatorial nominee 4 years earlier in 1986. Watkins was openly disappointed in the lack of support from the state Democratic hierarchy. In 1994, Watkins ran for governor again, 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, a Reagan administration official, to become only the third Republican 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 dominated his former congressional district, winning many of the counties there by large margins. Return to Congress In 1996, Brewster decided to retire from Congress as it became known that Watkins wanted his seat back. The Republican 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 the Ways 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). 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. Watkins' voting record in his first period in Congress had been characterized as somewhat moderate. During his second period, however, his voting record was strongly conservative, usually receiving ratings in the high 90s from the American Conservative Union. Retirement from Congress Oklahoma lost a congressional seat after the 2000 census due to slower than expected population growth. The final map saw Watkins' district dismantled,