Courtney Watson (politician)

Mary Courtney Watson (born September 8, 1962) is a Democratic member of the Maryland House of Delegates. She was previously a member of the Howard County Council from 2006 to 2014, and she was a member of the Howard County Board of Education from 2002 to 2006.[4][5]

Courtney Watson
Member of the Maryland House of Delegates
from the 9B district
Assumed office
January 9, 2019
Preceded byRobert Flanagan (R)
Member, Howard County Council, 1st district
In office
December 1, 2006[1] – December 1, 2014
Preceded byChristopher J. Merdon
Succeeded byJon Weinstein
Member, Howard County Board of Education
In office
December 2, 2002[2] – December 1, 2006
Preceded byJane B. Schuchardt
Succeeded byLarry Cohen
Personal details
Born (1962-09-08) September 8, 1962[3]
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseRichard
Children3[4]
Parent
ResidenceEllicott City, Maryland
EducationHoward Community College
Alma materLoyola College in Maryland (B.A., M.B.A.)
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life and career

Watson was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She graduated from Atholton High School in Columbia, Maryland and attended Howard Community College and Loyola College, where she earned a B.A. degree in business in 1984 and a M.B.A. degree in 1986. After graduating, she started her own business, which she operated until 1991. Afterwards, she became the vice-president of sales at Rossmann-Hurt-Hoffman, a local insurance company.[4] After finding out about crowding at Ilchester Elementary School, Watson joined a local parents committee in 1997 to lobby for strengthening county laws that limit development around crowded schools. She later co-founded County-Wide Citizens for the 12th High School, which lobbied for the opening of a new elementary school near Waterloo and a 12th high school in northwest Howard.[6] The elementary school, Bellows Spring Elementary School, opened in 2003 and the high school, Marriotts Ridge High School, opened in 2005.[7] She was eventually appointed to Howard County's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance Committee by county executive James N. Robey.[8]

In April 2002, Watson filed to run for the Howard County Board of Education, seeking to succeed board chairwoman Jane B. Schuchardt.[6][8] She won the nonpartisan primary election in September, receiving 62 percent of the vote.[9] At the time of her election, Watson was the youngest person on the Board of Education and was the only member with a child in the county school system.[10] She won the general election with 67.6 percent of the vote.[11]

In December 2005, Watson announced her candidacy for the Howard County Council in District 1, seeking to succeed county council chairman Christopher J. Merdon.[12] She won the general election with 52.3 percent of the vote.[13]

In September 2013, Watson announced her candidacy for Howard County executive, seeking to succeed Ken Ulman.[14] She was defeated by state Senator Allan Kittleman,[15][16] receiving 48.7 percent of the vote in the general election.[17]

In March 2015, Watson launched Bridge to Give, a charitable organization. The organization did not collect any money or donations, instead using Facebook as a tool to bring awareness of need in different areas of the community.[18]

In November 2015, Watson endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries.[19] In 2016, Watson served as DNC delegate from Maryland's 7th congressional district in the Democratic primary, pledged to Clinton. She was a presidential elector in the 2016 general election from Maryland, pledged to Clinton and Tim Kaine, when she signed a letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.[20][21][22] After Clinton's defeat, Watson said she supported Electoral College reform.[23]

Following the first Ellicott City flood, Watson led volunteer recovery and relief efforts in the city.[24][25]

In August 2017, motivated by the results of the 2016 presidential election and the presidency of Donald Trump, Watson filed to run for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 9B, challenging Delegate Robert Flanagan. The district was one of the few legislative districts targeted by the Maryland Democratic Party.[15][26] She won the Democratic primary with 65.6 percent of the vote.[27] Ahead of the general election, she was endorsed by former president Barack Obama.[28][29] She was criticized by progressives for supporting Governor Larry Hogan's re-election campaign over Democratic nominee Ben Jealous.[30][31] She defeated Flanagan in the general election, receiving 57.4 percent of the vote.[32][33]

In the legislature

Watson was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 9, 2019.[4]

In 2020, she again served as a DNC delegate from Maryland's 7th congressional district in the Democratic primary, pledged to Joe Biden.[34] Ahead of the presidential election, Watson and Jazz Lewis led an effort to get voters to apply for mail-in ballots to vote in the election.[35]

Committee assignments
  • Member, Economic Matters Committee, 2019–present (banking, consumer protection & commercial law subcommittee, 2019–present; property & casualty insurance subcommittee, 2019–present; chair, workers' compensation subcommittee, 2022–present)

Other memberships
  • House Chair, Howard County Delegation, 2021–present
  • Vice-Chair, Democratic Caucus, 2019–present
  • Member, Maryland Legislative Transit Caucus, 2019–present
  • Member, Women Legislators of Maryland, 2019–present

Political positions

Alcohol

In 2021, Watson co-sponsored legislation that would allow restaurants and bars to permanently legalize alcohol delivery if it was bought along with prepared food.[36][37] The bill passed and became law on May 18, 2021.[38]

Education

During her 2002 campaign, Watson supported providing enrichment programs for children who do not qualify for gifted or special education classes. She also supported increasing pay for teachers and creating incentives to keep teachers at under-performing schools.[6]

In September 2014, Watson unveiled a 17-point education platform as part of her campaign for Howard County executive. The plan's key points included creating an education liaison between county government and the county Board of Education, recruiting local businesses to create tech mentorships, and providing financial support to build new high schools and elementary schools to tackle school overcrowding.[39]

Healthcare

In May 2010, Watson voted to halve funding for Healthy Howard, a county program to provide health care services to uninsured individuals, because she felt it wasn't helping enough people for the cost.[40][41]

Watson supports the Affordable Care Act and expressed worries about how possible changes to it could affect Marylanders during her 2018 campaign.[26]

Infrastructure

Watson introduced legislation in the 2019 legislative session that established a grant program to assist areas with infrastructure repairs and watershed restoration efforts associated with flood events. The bill passed and became law on May 25, 2019.[42][43]

Watson introduced legislation in the 2020 legislative session that would allow local governments to seek funding from the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund for local climate resiliency projects.[44] The bill passed and became law on May 8, 2020.[45]

Labor

In February 2014, Watson said that she supported increasing the state minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour.[46] In December 2021, she sent a letter to the Howard County council asking its members to table legislation to raise the county's minimum wage to $16 an hour until discussions regarding minimum wage were held at the state level.[47]

In June 2021, Watson criticized Governor Hogan's decision to end expanded unemployment benefits provided under the American Rescue Plan Act.[48]

Transportation

During her 2014 executive campaign, Watson supported providing free bus transportation to the county's senior population.[40][49]

Electoral history
Howard County Board of Education Primary Election, 2002[9]
Candidate Votes %
Courtney Watson 20,940 62.3%
Barry Tevelow 6,955 20.7%
Arthur Neal Willoughby 5,741 17.1%
Howard County Board of Education General Election, 2002[11]
Candidate Votes %
Courtney Watson 50,557 67.6%
Barry Tevelow 23,865 31.9%
Write-ins 337 0.5%
Howard County Council District 1 Democratic Primary Election, 2006[50]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Courtney Watson 3,807 100.0%
Howard County Council District 1 General Election, 2006[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Courtney Watson 11,245 52.3%
Republican Tony Salazar 10,257 47.7%
N/A Other Write-Ins 13 0.1%
Howard County Council District 1 Democratic Primary Election, 2010[51]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Courtney Watson 3,481 100.0%
Howard County Council District 1 General Election, 2010[52]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Courtney Watson 11,638 52.7%
Republican Robert L. Flanagan 10,427 47.2%
N/A Other Write-Ins 19 0.1%
Howard County Executive Democratic Primary Election, 2014[53]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Courtney Watson 21,469 100.0%
Howard County Executive General Election, 2014[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Allan H. Kittleman 53,207 51.2%
Democratic Courtney Watson 50,543 48.7%
N/A Other Write-Ins 101 0.1%
Female Delegates to the Democratic National Convention, District 7, 2016[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lisa M. Brown (Clinton) 80,891 16.8%
Democratic Karenthia A. Barber (Clinton) 72,986 15.2%
Democratic Courtney Watson (Clinton) 67,862 14.1%
Democratic Kathleen M. Bustraan (Clinton) 65,479 13.6%
Democratic Maysa Elsheikh (Sanders) 37,106 7.7%
Democratic Drue Nixon (Sanders) 36,034 7.5%
Democratic Sharon Ann Fackler-Berkowitz (Sanders) 35,556 7.4%
Democratic Pauline "Kibby" Rada (Sanders) 35,394 7.4%
Democratic Belinda K. Conaway (Uncommitted) 20,960 4.4%
Democratic Valerie L. Cunningham (Uncommitted) 11,415 2.4%
Democratic Karen D. Queen (Uncommitted) 6,622 1.4%
Democratic Laurie Feinberg (Uncommitted) 6,010 1.2%
Democratic Maya Rockeymoore Cummings (Uncommitted) 4,652 1.0%
Maryland House of Delegates District 9B Democratic Primary Election, 2018[27]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Courtney Watson 3,228 65.6%
Democratic Daniel Medinger 1,689 34.4%
Maryland House of Delegates District 9B General Election, 2018[33]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Courtney Watson 11,742 57.4%
Republican Bob Flanagan 8,680 42.4%
N/A Other Write-Ins 26 0.1%
Female Delegates to the Democratic National Convention, District 7, 2020[34]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Michelle Alexander (Biden) 101,397 15.9%
Democratic Tia Hopkins (Biden) 93,976 14.8%
Democratic Maureen Evans Arthurs (Biden) 92,833 14.6%
Democratic Jennifer H. Chang (Biden) 89,042 14.0%
Democratic Courtney Watson (Biden) 88,973 14.0%
Democratic Sheila Ruth (Sanders) 16,349 2.6%
Democratic Kristy Fogle (Sanders) 14,797 2.3%
Democratic Kristy Fogle (Sanders) 14,797 2.3%
Democratic Rekha R. Rapaka (Sanders) 14,772 2.3%
Democratic Belinda K. Conaway (Uncommitted) 14,477 2.3%
Democratic Rashi Turniansky (Sanders) 12,061 1.9%
Democratic Khalilah M. Harris (Warren) 11,849 1.9%
Democratic Charly Carter (Warren) 7,831 1.2%
Democratic Jessica Feldmark (Warren) 6,409 1.0%
Democratic Karen Queen (Warren) 5,026 0.8%
Democratic Katie Mettle (Warren) 4,906 0.8%
Democratic Emma Oppenheim (Warren) 4,234 0.7%
Democratic Katie Malone (Buttigieg) 3,591 0.6%
Democratic Linda C. Bolen (Klobuchar) 3,521 0.6%
Democratic Nabeehah A. Azeez (Klobuchar) 3,449 0.5%
Democratic Michele Connolly (Buttigieg) 3,473 0.5%
Democratic Natalie Ziegler (Buttigieg) 3,386 0.5%
Democratic Mary Jo Neville (Buttigieg) 2,992 0.5%
Democratic Laurie Smith Wooden (Klobuchar) 2,412 0.4%
Democratic Lynn A. Lascola (Buttigieg) 2,286 0.4%
Democratic Johanna Platt Doble (Yang) 2,198 0.3%
Democratic Lindsey Wilson (Yang) 2,153 0.3%
Democratic Michele C. Kocak (Yang) 2,125 0.3%
Democratic Veda Wild (Yang) 2,098 0.3%
Democratic Allegra MacWilliams (Klobuchar) 2,061 0.3%
Democratic Alexis Lynn Lowe (Yang) 1,994 0.3%
Democratic Michelle C. Nepomuceno (Yang) 1,938 0.3%

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