Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson says he is running for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, one of the most powerful positions in the state.
“My life’s work has been serving Mississippi, from my time in the state Senate as a conservative fighter, to my time as secretary of state making sure our elections are secure and cutting the regulatory burden on Mississippi businesses so they can grow and prosper,” he said in an announcement video on Tuesday. “I’m ready to be your lieutenant governor and my hope is you’ll join us on this campaign.”
Watson, who is from Pascagoula, has served as secretary of state since 2020. Before then, he served as the senator for Mississippi Senate District 51 from 2008 to 2020.
If we were to become Mississippi’s next lieutenant governor, he would serve as the president of the Mississippi Senate, appointing all Senate committee chairs and members and assigning bills to committees, with tremendous sway over what kind of legislation is prioritized or even allowed to make it to the floor.
In his announcement video, he credits former Republican U.S. Sen. Trent Lott with encouraging him to run for office on the local and state level rather than coming to work for the longtime senator in Washington D.C. He also credited former Gov. Phil Bryant, who served as lieutenant governor before becoming governor in 2012, with steering him toward running for secretary of state in 2019. The video includes an endorsement from the former governor.
“The reason Michael’s going to do a great job as lieutenant governor is he has that ability not only to work with people, to bring people together across party lines,” Bryant says in the video. “He is a great listener. I’m also very proud to know that he’s stepping up in that leadership role. We need him there.”
In his announcement video, Watson highlights his vote as a senator for the abortion ban resulting in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade and ended federal abortion rights.
“We passed a piece of legislation that ultimately went to the Supreme Court and overturned Roe v. Wade, and here we are, Mississippi at the tip of the spear, changing the law of the land when it comes to abortion, and we’re the ones that set the path forward for our country,” he says in the clip.
Watson is set to formally announce his campaign at an event in Jackson this evening at 5:30 p.m.
You can watch Watson’s announcement video below:
Follow the Mississippi Free Press’ coverage of the 2027 elections here.
Correction: An earlier version of this story said that Michael Watson credited former U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran with encouraging him to run for office on the local and state level early in his political career. That is incorrect; he credited former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott for that, not Cochran.
