Benjamin Luther Watson (born July 27, 1959) is an American politician who has served in the

Georgia State Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Legal provisions The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia ...

from the 1st District since he was appointed in 2014. He previously served in the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. T ...

from 2010 to 2014. Watson is an active member of the Republican Party, and he has also been a part of various committees and caucuses in the state of Georgia.

Background and education

Ben was born in 1959 and grew up in

Twin City, Georgia Twin City is a city in Emanuel County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 1,642. History Twin City gets its name from the combining of two adjacent towns, Graymont and Summit. The two rival towns were mer ...

. He now resides in

Isle of Hope, Georgia Isle of Hope is a census-designated place (CDP) in Chatham County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area, and at the 2020 U.S. census its population was 2,357. The island is one of the most affluent comm ...

with his wife, Bernice, who is a Savannah-Chatham Public School teacher, and their three sons. Ben graduated high school from the Emanuel County Institute in 1977 and graduated with a BA from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in 1981. He earned his medical degree from the

Medical College of Georgia The Medical College of Georgia (often referred to as MCG) is the flagship medical school of the University System of Georgia, the state's only public medical school, and one of the top 10 largest medical schools in the United States. Established ...

Career

Ben's career is pretty easy to follow. After getting his MD, he has worked as a primary care physician in Savannah. He practices internal medicine at SouthCoast Medical Group where he specializes in elderly patients. He has practiced medicine at SouthCoast Medical Group since 1988 and still works there today. Ben began his career in politics by becoming a representative in the Georgia State House of Representatives for District 166 in 2010. He represented Georgia's 163rd District from 2010 to 2013 and then represented District 166 from 2013 to 2015. In 2014, he was elected Senator in the

District 1 District 1 may refer to: * I District, Turku, in Finland * District 1, Düsseldorf, a district in Düsseldorf, Germany * Sector 1 (Bucharest), also known as District 1, in Bucharest, Romania * District I, Budapest in Budapest, Hungary * District ...

. He took over the seat from Sen.

Buddy Carter Earl LeRoy "Buddy" Carter (born September 6, 1957) is an American pharmacist and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Georgia's 1st congressional district since 2015. The district is based in Savannah and includes most of the state ...

, R-Pooler, who campaigned for a higher spot in Congress. List of Current Legislative Committees: * Member, Appropriations * Chair, Health and Human Services * Member, Insurance and Labor * Member, Public Safety * Member, Subcommittee on General Welfare and Safety * Member, Subcommittee on Healthcare Delivery and Access * Member, Subcommittee on Scope of Practice * Member, Transportation * Member, Veterans, Military and Homeland Security List of Former Committees/Caucuses: * Member, Georgia State Senate Appropriations Committee, present * Member, Georgia State Senate Ethics Committee, present * Member, Georgia State Senate Health and Human Services Committee, present * Member, Georgia State Senate Public Safety Committee, present * Member, Georgia State Senate Retirement Committee, present * Member, Georgia State Senate Transportation Committee, present * Chair, Georgia State Senate Veterans, Military, and Homeland Security Committee, present * Former Vice Chair, Economic Development and Tourism Committee, Georgia State Senate * Former Member, Ethics Committee, Georgia State Senate * Former Member, Georgia State House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, Health Subcommittee * Former Member, Georgia State House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee * Former Member, Georgia State House of Representatives Higher Education Committee * Former Secretary, Georgia State House of Representatives Science and Technology Committee * Former Member, Subcommittee on Abusive Billing Practices, Georgia State Senate * Former Member, Subcommittee on Community Health, Georgia State Senate * Former Member, Subcommittee on Insurance, Georgia State Senate * Former Member, Subcommittee on Pharmacology, Georgia State Senate

Elections

Georgia State Senate

2020

In the November 3rd, 2020 election, Ben Watson ran for re-election to the Georgia State Senate to represent District 1 as a Republican incumbent. He initially ran against a Democratic challenger, Kerri McGinty, who withdrew from the race on September 30, 2020. Watson will carry out an additional term in his current seat for 2 more years.

2018

Ben Watson defeated Democratic challenger Sandra Workman in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 1 on November 6, 2018. Watson received 61% of the total votes cast. Ben was not challenged in the Republican Primary.

2014 - 2016

Ben Watson ran unopposed in the Georgia State Senate District 1 general elections in 2014 and 2016.

Georgia House of Representatives

2010

The Georgia State House of Representatives District 163 was left vacant by Representative Burke Day (R) in 2010. Ben Watson, Joe Welch and Gary Wisenbaker competed in the Republican primary on July 20 for the Republican nomination in a majority Republican district. Watson managed to avoid the almost certain runoff which would have been required by Georgia State Law if none of the three candidates reached 50.01% of the vote. Watson garnered 64.5% of the vote to Welches's 18.7% and Wisenbaker's 16.9%. In the November 2 General Election, Watson defeated Jeremy Scheinbart (D) with 80.2% of the vote.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Ben (politician) 1959 births Living people People from Emanuel County, Georgia Physicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Medical College of Georgia alumni University of Georgia alumni Republican Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Republican Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators 21st-century American politicians