| Diane Watson | |
| Office: | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California |
| Term Start: | June 7, 2001 [1] |
| Term End: | January 3, 2011 |
| Predecessor: | Julian Dixon |
| Successor: | Karen Bass |
| Constituency: | (2001–2003) (2003–2011) |
| Office3: | United States Ambassador to Micronesia |
| Term Start3: | 1999 |
| Term End3: | 2000 |
| Predecessor3: | March Fong Eu |
| Successor3: | Larry Miles Dinger |
| Office4: | Member of the California Senate |
| Constituency4: | 30th district (1978–82) 28th district (1982–94) |
| Term Start4: | December 4, 1978 |
| Term End4: | November 30, 1994 |
| Predecessor4: | Nate Holden |
| Successor4: | Ralph C. Dills |
| Term Start5: | December 5, 1994 |
| Term End5: | November 30, 1998 |
| Predecessor5: | Charles Calderon |
| Successor5: | Kevin Murray |
| Birth Date: | 12 November 1933 |
| Birth Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation: | College administrator Health Psychologist Specialist |
| Alma Mater: | University of California, Los Angeles (BA) California State University, Los Angeles (MS) Claremont Graduate University (PhD) |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Residence: | South Central, Los Angeles |
| Committees: | House Foreign Affairs Committee House Oversight and Government Reform Committee |
| Website: | http://www.house.gov/watson/ |
Diane Edith Watson (born November 12, 1933) is a former American politician who served as US Representative for, serving from 2003 until 2011, after first being elected in the 32nd District in a 2001 special election. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is located entirely in Los Angeles County and includes much of Central Los Angeles, as well as such wealthy neighborhoods as Los Feliz.
A native of Los Angeles, Watson is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, and also holds degrees from California State University, Los Angeles and Claremont Graduate University. She worked as a psychologist, professor, and health occupation specialist before serving as a member of the Los Angeles Unified School Board (1975–78). She was a member of the California Senate from 1978 to 1998, and the US Ambassador to Micronesia from 1999 to 2000.
Watson was elected to Congress in a 2001 special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative Julian C. Dixon. She was re-elected four times, and retired after the end of the 111th Congress.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Watson was raised Catholic as the daughter of William Allen Louis Watson and Dorothy Elizabeth O’Neal Watson.[2] [3] According to a DNA analysis, some of her ancestors were from the Central African Republic.[4] She was educated at Dorsey High School, Los Angeles City College and the University of California, Los Angeles, where she earned her BA in Education (1956) and became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha.
She earned an MS from California State University, Los Angeles in School Psychology (1967) and a PhD in Educational Administration from Claremont Graduate University in 1987.[5] She also attended Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University.
Watson taught elementary school and was a school psychologist in the Los Angeles public schools. She has lectured at California State University, Long Beach and California State University, Los Angeles. She was a health occupation specialist with the California Department of Education's Bureau of Industrial Education, and served on the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.[6]
Watson was elected to the California State Senate from 1978 to 1998. The longtime chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, she gained a reputation as an advocate for health care for the poor and children. She was the first African American woman in the California State Senate.[7] Term limited, she was replaced by Kevin Murray.
When, in 1988, the US government proposed the addition of the category of "bi-racial" or "multiracial" to official documents and statistics, some African American organizations and African American leaders such as Watson and Representative Augustus Hawkins were particularly vocal in their rejection of and opposition to the category. They feared massive defection from the African American self-designation.
In 1992, Watson ran for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. After a hard-fought campaign that often turned negative, Watson narrowly lost to former Supervisor Yvonne Burke, who was supported by U.S. Representative Maxine Waters.
In 1999, President Bill Clinton appointed her United States Ambassador to Micronesia and she served in the post for two years. She stepped down to run in the April 2001 Democratic primary election, which was called to nominate a candidate to replace Congressman Julian Dixon, who had died in office five months earlier. She won with 33 percent of the vote in a multi-candidate field, then carried the district with 75 percent of the vote in the June 2001 special election.[8]
In 2006, the National Journal ranked Watson as the most liberal member of Congress.[18]
Throughout her career in Congress, she advocated for increased funding and research directed at the HIV/AIDS pandemic. She argued in favor of humanitarian assistance for African nations that had been decimated by the disease.[19]
In the 2008 Democratic primary, Watson's district went overwhelmingly for Illinois Senator Barack Obama by a margin of 61-29. As a superdelegate, Watson continued to support New York Senator Hillary Clinton.
Watson defeated her challengers in the California June 3 primary, and defeated Republican David Crowley in the November 4, 2008, election.