Kirk Watson
Kirk Preston Watson is an American attorney and Democratic politician from the capital city of Austin, Texas. He served as Austin mayor from 1997 to 2001. He ran unsuccessfully for Texas Attorney General in the 2002 election, when he was defeated by Republican Greg Abbott, later governor of Texas. In 2006, Watson was elected to the Texas Senate from District 14.
In 2011, Watson was chosen by his Democratic colleagues to chair the Senate Democratic Caucus and served until 2015. On the first day of the 86th Legislature, he was chosen by his colleagues—Democrats and Republicans—to serve as president pro tempore. The position typically goes to the most senior member, regardless of party, who has not yet served as President Pro Tem, and is second in line of succession to the Governor.
It was announced by the Austin American-Statesman that Watson planned to resign from the Texas State Senate to become the first dean of the University of Houston's Hobby School for Public Affairs. His resignation was effective April 30, 2020.
Early life and education
Watson was born in Oklahoma City and raised in Saginaw, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth, where he attended Boswell High School. He received a bachelor's degree in political science in 1980 and a Juris Doctorate in 1981 from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. At Baylor Law School, Watson was editor-in-chief of the Baylor Law Review and graduated first in his class. He subsequently clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.Early political career
Watson was elected president of the Texas Young Lawyers Association in 1990 and served on the executive committee of the State Bar of Texas. Watson was an active Democrat throughout the 1990s and served as the chairman of the Travis County Democratic Party.In 1991, Watson was appointed by Governor Ann Richards to serve as chairman of the Texas Air Control Board, the state agency that was charged with protecting air quality in Texas. During his tenure, he worked to merge the agency with the Texas Air Control Board and the Texas Water Commission to form the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission, and oversaw implementation of the 1991 amendments to the federal Clean Air Act.
In 1994, he was named the Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas. In 1997, Watson co-founded the Austin law firm of Watson Bishop London & Galow, creating a broad law practice that represented families, doctors, small businesses, and some of the state's major universities.
Mayor of Austin (1997–2001)
In 1997, after Watson moved from Rollingwood to Austin, he was elected mayor of Austin, a nonpartisan position. He ran on a pledge to build consensus in a city that was then dominated by political battles between environmentalists and developers. He campaigned to raise more than $78 million for land preservation and $300 million for transportation improvements. And he led efforts to revitalize downtown Austin, secure the city's long-term water supply, proactively improve air quality in Central Texas, and build a bypass to Interstate 35 through Austin.In March 1999, he was named Best Mayor in Texas for Business by Texas Monthly Biz Magazine. Forbes and Fortune Magazine also named Austin as the best city or place in the U.S. to do business during this period. And for his service, Watson received recognitions from the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Austin Alliance, the Texas Nature Conservancy, Austin Family magazine, the International Downtown Association, and the Austin Chronicle.
As a result of his work as mayor, Watson became a recognized speaker on economic development. His work was also referenced in the book The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida.
In 2000, Watson was reelected with 84% of the vote – the highest percentage a mayoral candidate has ever received in Austin. In November 2001, he stepped down to run unsuccessfully for Texas Attorney General. In 2005, he served as chairman of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.
Texas Senate (2007–2020)
Watson was elected to the Texas Senate in November 2006, succeeding Senator Gonzalo Barrientos. He received more than 80 percent of the vote. Watson was unopposed in the March 2006 Democratic Primary.He serves as vice-chairman of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security committee, as well as on the Senate Business and Commerce, Economic Development, Jurisprudence, and Nominations committees. In 2008, he was appointed as one of two senators to the state Business Tax Advisory Committee.
Watson has become a prominent voice on transportation, clean energy, and higher education issues, and he has campaigned to widen transparency in the state's finances and increase health coverage for Texans, particularly children. In 2009, he led the fight against a budget rider that would have effectively banned embryonic stem cell research at Texas universities. The rider ultimately was not adopted.
Watson has served on many committees including the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, of which he is the former Transportation Policy Board Chairman. CAMPO is federally designated as the primary transportation planning organization in Central Texas.
The July 2007 Texas Monthly magazine recognized Watson as "Rookie of the Year" for the 2007 session of the Texas Legislature. In 2009, the magazine named him one of the state's 10 Best Legislators. He also was given the Price Daniel Award for Distinguished Public Service by the Baylor Alumni Association, and the Excellence in Leadership Award by Concordia University, Texas.
Watson considered running in the 2010 race for governor, but in August 2009 decided to instead seek re-election to the Texas Senate.
In June 2013, Watson moved to overturn a ruling designed to end the filibuster of Senator Wendy Davis. Together, their efforts averted the passage of SB5, a bill that its opponents claimed would enact severe abortion restrictions in Texas. Instead, in a second special session the same bill was passed by the Texas House, and then by the Texas Senate, and then signed into law by Gov. Perry less than a month later. State Rep. Charles "Doc" Anderson of Waco told reporters following the Davis filibuster that the additional special session might "cost taxpayers more than $800,000." Another news organization estimated special-session costs at roughly $30,000 per day.
In the general election on November 6, 2018, Watson easily won reelection, 274,122 to 96,355 for his Republican opponent, George W. Hindman. A Libertarian Party candidate, Micah M. Verlander, held another 10,838 votes.
Watson resigned from the Texas State Senate on April 30, 2020 to become the first dean of the University of Houston's Hobby School of Public Affairs.
Controversy
Texas highways
Much of Watson's first year in office was spent mediating a long, very bitter dispute on the CAMPO board over highway improvements in the Austin area.While many of the improvements had been in transportation plans for years, they had never been constructed. A lack of transportation funding, affecting projects across Texas, had led previous boards to support plans that would toll the additional capacity as well as nearly completed projects, sparking intense opposition throughout the region.
Upon being elected chairman by the rest of the board in January 2007, Watson led the effort to keep the controversial projects in the region's transportation plan. He then spearheaded a public effort to create a process that would allow policy makers and the public to analyze the need for transportation projects, mechanisms to pay for them, and potential public benefits from them.
On October 8, 2007, the CAMPO board overwhelmingly approved a plan to add new toll lanes to several existing highways.
Most of the improvements were approved on a 15-4 vote, and none were opposed by more than five board members. The board was heckled with shouts of "Political suicide!" and catcalls.