Stephen Watt (born January 8, 1956, in

Newcastle, Wyoming Newcastle is a city in and the county seat of Weston County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 3,374 at the 2020 census. Geography Newcastle is located at (43.853183, -104.209343). It is situated at the southwest edge of the Blac ...

) is an American politician and a former

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

Wyoming House of Representatives The Wyoming House of Representatives is the lower house of the Wyoming State Legislature. There are 60 Representatives in the House, representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts across the state, each with a population of ...

. Watt served three non-consecutive terms, representing District 16 from 2001 to 2003 and District 17 from 2005 to 2007 and again from 2013 to 2015. Watt was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Wyoming in 2002.

Education

Watt attended

Chadron State College Chadron State College is a public college in Chadron, Nebraska, US. It is one of three public colleges in the Nebraska State College System. It has open admission and an acceptance rate of 100%. According to College Factual, it has a six-year g ...

in Chadron,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

Elections

2000

When Democratic Representative Kenilynn Zanetti retired and left the District 16 seat open, Watt was unopposed for the August 22, 2000 Republican Primary, winning with 500 votes, and won the November 7, 2000 General election with 1,166 votes (51.7%) against Democratic nominee Larry Levitt.

2002

When incumbent Republican

Governor of Wyoming A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Jim Geringer James Edward Geringer (born April 24, 1944) is an American politician who was the 30th Governor of Wyoming, serving from 1995 to 2003. Early life and education Geringer was born and raised on a farm in Wheatland, Wyoming. His father, Gottlieb Ge ...

was

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

ed from seeking a third term, Watt ran in the five-way August 20, 2002 Republican Primary, but lost to

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the

Eli Bebout Eli Daniel Bebout (born October 14, 1946) is an American athlete and politician who served in the Wyoming House of Representatives from a multi-member district in Fremont County and the 55th district from 1987 to 2001, and later served in the ...

. The primary runner-up was

Ray Hunkins Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

, a rancher and lawyer from Wheatland. Bebout then lost the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

to Democratic former

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

Dave Freudenthal David Duane Freudenthal (born October 12, 1950) is an American attorney, economist, and politician who served as the 31st Governor of Wyoming from 2003 to 2011. Freudenthal previously was the United States Attorney for the District of Wyoming ...

2004

When Republican Representative and former Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives Fred Parady retired, Watt ran unopposed for the August 17, 2004 Republican Primary, winning with 547 votes, won the November 2, 2004 General election by 85 votes with 1,540 votes (51.4%) against Democratic nominee Stephen Shea.

2010

Watt challenged incumbent Democratic Representative

Bernadine Craft Bernadine L. Craft is an American politician and a former Democratic member of the Wyoming State Senate and previously a member of Wyoming House of Representatives, and had represented the 12th district from January 7, 2013 to January 10, 2017. ...

. He was unopposed for the August 17, 2010 Republican Primary, winning with 536 votes, but lost the November 2, 2010 General election to Craft.

2012

When Democratic Representative

ran for

Wyoming Senate The Wyoming Senate is the upper house of the Wyoming State Legislature. There are 30 Senators in the Senate, representing an equal number of constituencies across Wyoming, each with a population of at least 17,000. The Senate meets at the Wyom ...

and left the House District 17 seat open, Watt was unopposed for the August 21, 2012 Republican Primary, winning with 357 votes, and won the November 6, 2012 General election with 1,680 votes (55.2%) against Democratic nominee

JoAnn Dayton JoAnn Dayton-Selman is an American politician and former Wyoming state legislator. A member of the Democratic Party, Dayton-Selman represented the 17th district in the Wyoming House of Representatives from 2015 to 2021. Elections 2012 Dayton-Se ...

2014

Watt ran against Democrat

in a rematch of the 2012 race. Dayton defeated Watt, with Watt receiving only 42% of the vote compared to Dayton's 58%.

References

External links

Official page
at the

Wyoming Legislature The Wyoming State Legislature is the legislative branch of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is a bicameral state legislature, consisting of a 60-member Wyoming House of Representatives, and a 30-member Wyoming Senate. The legislature meets at the ...

* 1956 births Living people American politicians with disabilities Chadron State College alumni Republican Party members of the Wyoming House of Representatives People from Rock Springs, Wyoming People from Newcastle, Wyoming {{Wyoming-politician-stub