Quick Facts
Biography
Michael D. Watson Jr. (born December 22, 1977) is an American politician and the incumbent Secretary of State of Mississippi. A Republican, he previously represented the 51st district in the Mississippi State Senate from 2008 to 2020.
Career
Watson is an attorney from Pascagoula, Mississippi. He ran in the 2007 Mississippi elections for the state senate against Tommy Robertson, and won. Chris McDaniel hired Watson during the 2014 United States Senate election in Mississippi in his quest to invalidate votes of African Americans cast in the Republican Party's primary election. Watson considered running for governor of Mississippi in the 2015 Mississippi gubernatorial election, but opted to run for reelection instead.
In the 2019 Mississippi elections, Watson ran for Secretary of State of Mississippi. He defeated Sam Britton in the Republican primary, and defeated Johnny DuPree in the general election on November 5.