Michael B. Watson (born September 19, 1961 in

Hopewell, Virginia Hopewell is an independent city (United States), independent city surrounded by Prince George County, Virginia, Prince George County and the Appomattox River in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 202 ...

) is an

American politician In the United States, politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal democratic republic with a presidential system. The three distinct branches share powers: Congress, which forms the legislative branch, a bicameral legis ...

. A Republican, he was elected to the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

in 2011. He represented the 93rd district, made up of the city of

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

and parts of the counties of James City and

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

and the city of

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the fifth-most populous city in Virginia and 140th-most populous city i ...

on the

Virginia Peninsula The Virginia Peninsula is the natural landform located in southeast Virginia outlined by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay. It is sometimes known as the ''Lower Peninsula'' to distinguish it from two other penins ...

Early life, education, business career

Watson was born in

. His father was a millwright and a

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

operator. He attended

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

and New River Community College, receiving an A.A.S. degree in Industrial Instrumentation Technology (https://www.nr.edu/instrumentation/) from the latter school in 1983. In 1988 he established Control Automation Technologies Corporation (CATC), an industrial controls business, in North Carolina which was name
North Carolina's Small Business of the Year
in 1998 and was selected by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as finalist for the national Blue Chip Enterprise Award in 1999. He founde
CATLab - Accredited Calibration Laboratories
(CATLab) in 1999. On January 1, 2006 Control Automation Technologies Corp. was acquired by Instrumentation Services, Inc. an FCX compan
(https://www.fcxperformance.com
. Watson continued expanding CATLab, establishing a second laboratory in his native Virginia in 2006. On January 1, 2021, CATLab was acquired by France based Trescal (https://www.temcom.com/trescal-makes-two-acquisitions-in-the-healthcare-sector/ He married Amy Michelle Bourbonais. They have three sons, Cody, Adam and Taylor. He resides in Gloucester, VA.

Political career

Watson was the 2011 Republican nominee in the 93rd House district, whose Democratic incumbent,

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

Robin Abbott, was

redistricted Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

out. Abbott moved back into the redrawn district and ran for reelection. Watson defeated her, with 51.7% of the vote. During his first year in office Watson earned the legislature's second highest business rating from Virginia Free, won the Champion of Free Enterprise Award from the VA Chamber of Commerce, and was named Freshman Legislator of the Year. Following the 2013 session, Watson held VA Free's highest cumulative pro-business rating in the General Assembly by any member having served at least one full term and was awarded the Champion of Free Enterprise Award for the second consecutive year. He was also one of four founders of the General Assembly's first ever bi-partisan Business Development Caucus. Watson lost his reelection bid to

Monty Mason Taylor Montgomery Mason (born September 8, 1967) is an American politician from Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Mason served as a member of the Virginia Senate for the 1st district from 2016 to 2024. From 2014 to 2016 he represente ...

in 2013. In June 2014, Watson was named Coordinator of the Small Business Subcommittee under the Business Climate Industry Council of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. with a mission of developing the Chamber's legislative agenda for the implementation of Blueprint Virginia. In November 2014, Watson was appointed to the Higher Education Advisory Committee to General Assembly’s House Committee on Education. In 2023, VA Governor Glenn Youngkin appointed Watson to Virginia's Manufacturing Development Commission.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Michael B. 1961 births Living people Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates People from Hopewell, Virginia Old Dominion University alumni 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly