# Sam Watson

Sam Watson is a Republican member of the Georgia Senate for district 11.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Georgia Senate, district 11
- Serving since: 2023-02-06
- Current term: GA 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/cbcdfca3-e47d-4b32-9164-ec0709a134bf

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/cbcdfca3-e47d-4b32-9164-ec0709a134bf (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

75% of Watson’s itemized money in the 2026 cycle came from Georgia, in the bottom quarter of State Senate Republicans.

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.46 (standard error 0.04), from 125 donors and 479 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 65% of State Senate Republicans score lower.

## Votes (GA 2025–26 session)

35 roll calls. Attendance 71% (Georgia Senate 92.2%). Party unity 100% (96.0%). 0 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-06-23 · voted nay · AGREE TO HOUSE SUBSTITUTE AS AMENDED · SB 3 Election Equipment Specifications and Standards Committee; establish · fail · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/SB3/
- 2026-06-23 · voted yea · AGREE TO HOUSE SUBSTITUTE · SB 3 Election Equipment Specifications and Standards Committee; establish · pass · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/SB3/
- 2026-06-20 · voted yea · PASSAGE · SB 1 Glynn County; ad valorem taxes; homestead property determined annually for the special district based upon the proceeds of a new Local Homestead Option… · fail · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/SB1/
- 2026-06-20 · voted yea · PASSAGE AS AMENDED · SB 3 Election Equipment Specifications and Standards Committee; establish · pass · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/SB3/
- 2026-06-20 · voted yea · LOCAL CONSENT CALENDAR · SB 1 Glynn County; ad valorem taxes; homestead property determined annually for the special district based upon the proceeds of a new Local Homestead Option… · fail · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/SB1/
- 2026-06-17 · voted yea · ADOPTION · SR 3 Adjournment; relative to · pass · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/SR3/

## Legislation (GA 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 266 bills: 266 reached committee, 216 passed one chamber, 53 passed both, 45 became law. Cosponsored 0. 81.2% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Georgia Senate 76.9%; rank 21 of 53).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SR 1069: Boger, Jennifer; recognize and commend (passed one chamber, 2026-03-31) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR1069/
- SR 1071: Trott, Austin; recognize and commend (passed one chamber, 2026-03-31) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR1071/
- SR 1070: Touhy, Mrs. Angela W.; recognize and commend (passed one chamber, 2026-03-31) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR1070/
- SR 1025: Gable, Phillip Cortez; condolences (passed one chamber, 2026-03-27) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR1025/
- SR 1024: Clinch County Boys Basketball Team; congratulate (passed one chamber, 2026-03-27) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR1024/
- SR 1053: Trump, President Donald J.; commend (passed one chamber, 2026-03-27) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR1053/
- SR 1050: Vaughn, Lee; recognize (passed one chamber, 2026-03-27) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR1050/
- SR 1011: American Red Cross; commend; Red Cross Month; recognize March 2026 (passed one chamber, 2026-03-25) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR1011/
- SR 1004: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; recognize (passed one chamber, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR1004/
- SR 998: 2026 Senate Aides and Senate Academic Aides; commend (passed one chamber, 2026-03-20) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR998/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $47.7K (State Senate Republicans median $46.2K). 75% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/cbcdfca3-e47d-4b32-9164-ec0709a134bf