"Quality public education should be made available to all young persons. Public education is the most effective method of eliminating poverty and many social ills that exist in our society."
~ PERCY W. WATSON
ABOUT THE CANDIDATE
Representative Percy W. Watson, a native of Hattiesburg, is an attorney and member of the Mississippi House of Representatives. He graduated from the Hattiesburg Public School System and from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Art in political science. His undergraduate degree was awarded with special honors, and he was inducted in the Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated from the first accelerated program at the University of Iowa College of Law, and after returning home to Hattiesburg, he pursued further study at the University of Southern Mississippi and William Carey College.
Watson is a member of the Iowa, Alaska and Mississippi Bar Associations. He has been engaged in the private practice of law in Hattiesburg since May 3, 1976. Watson was first elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives in November 1979, and he was re-elected to this position in 10 subsequent elections. Watson is currently serving his 10th term in the Mississippi Legislature, recently completing his 40th year of legislative service.
In the Legislature, he is vice chairman of the House Ethics Committee, and he is the former Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee and serves as a member of the Judiciary, PEER and Appropriations committees. He served as a member of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee for 12 years. His civic and community involvement includes Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Regions Bank Advisory Board and Chairman of the Board of Deacons at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
He and his wife, Barbara, are the parents of five children.
ABOUT HOUSE DISTRICT 103
Counties represented: Forrest
School Districts represented: Forrest County School District, Forrest County AHS, Hattiesburg School District
Endorsed: 2019