# Ben Watson

Ben Watson is a Republican member of the Georgia Senate for district 1.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Georgia Senate, district 1
- Serving since: 2015-01-12
- Current term: GA 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/fd2717f1-6294-4601-a027-8fc41195372c

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/fd2717f1-6294-4601-a027-8fc41195372c (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

84% of the 244 bills Watson sponsored got out of committee, in the top quarter of the Georgia Senate.

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.50 (standard error 0.04), from 232 donors and 313 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 71% of State Senate Republicans score lower.

## Votes (GA 2025–26 session)

35 roll calls. Attendance 100% (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 244 bills: 244 reached committee, 204 passed one chamber, 57 passed both, 48 became law. Cosponsored 0. 83.6% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Georgia Senate 76.9%; rank 12 of 53).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SR 4: United State Citizens; right to register and vote- CA (in committee, 2026-06-17) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/SR4/
- SR 1070: Touhy, Mrs. Angela W.; recognize and commend (passed one chamber, 2026-03-31) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR1070/
- SR 1040: Small Business Week; recognize May 4-10, 2026 (passed one chamber, 2026-03-27) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR1040/
- SR 1043: America 250 Day; recognize April 1, 2026 (passed one chamber, 2026-03-27) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR1043/
- SR 1050: Vaughn, Lee; recognize (passed one chamber, 2026-03-27) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR1050/
- SR 1003: East Laurens Lady Falcons Basketball Team; commend (passed one chamber, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR1003/
- 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/
- SR 1000: Jones, Speaker Pro Tempore Jan; recognize (passed one chamber, 2026-03-20) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR1000/
- SR 968: Whitaker, Dr. Gyimah; recognize (in committee, 2026-03-19) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/SR968/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $129.4K (State Senate Republicans median $46.2K). 97% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- X: https://x.com/repbenwatson
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benwatsonga/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benwatsonga/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/fd2717f1-6294-4601-a027-8fc41195372c