Watson to Run for 93rd District Seat

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Republican James City County resident and business owner Mike Watson officially announced Monday his candidacy for the 93rd District House seat. He'll run as a Republican.

Watson is founder and President of Control Automation Technologies Corporation and CATLab Accredited Calibration Laboratories and has lived in the area since he was a child. His major concern is “that the American Dream is fading and I want to do whatever I can to preserve it for my sons and all Virginians,” Watson said.

He started his first business at age 27, and his companies have since hired over 100 technicians to provide technical services to industries in Asia, Africa, Central America and throughout the United States. His companies have earned state recognition as Small Business of the Year and national honors as finalist for the Blue Chip Enterprise Award.

Watson spent much of his youth working in his family’s tugboat business, James River Towing Company, on Skiff’s Creek in Lee Hall. “I learned what hard work was at an early age,” he said. “My dad worked two jobs all my childhood as a millwright and as a Captain while my mom drove a school bus and managed the books for the family business.”

His knowledge of the current business climate is central to Watson’s platform and led him to run for the seat in the newly reshaped district. “I’m not a politician, I’m a craftsman and a businessman,” he said. “I’ve seen some of the ideas that politicians have tried under the guise of promoting employment and it is clear that few of them have ever run a business.”

Watson, 49, hasn’t ever held office, but he has been active in the community as a Scout leader and Little League coach. He serves on several boards and committees, including the New River Educational Foundation, the Community College Technical Advisory Committees, the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance’s Government Affairs Committee, and the Boy Scout Troop 103 Committee. Watson is also a Senior Member of the International Society of Automation.

He and his wife have three sons, one who is a rising junior in Virginia Tech’s Corp of Cadets and two who attend WJCC public schools.

Democrat Del. Robin Abbott also recently announced her intent to run for re-election in the 93rd District.