Democratic challenger Monty Mason has ousted Republican incumbent Mike Watson from the 93rd District of the Virginia House of Delegates.
“I am honored to have received the support of the voters in the 93rd district. I look forward to returning to the General Assembly the balance that this district represents,” Mason said in a statement to WYDaily.
Watson called Mason on Tuesday night to concede, according to Tyler Foote, Watson’s campaign manager.
“We’d like to congratulate Mr. Mason on a hard fought campaign,” Foote said. “We wish him the best. Del. Watson accomplished a lot as a freshman legislator, and I would expect him to continue to be involved in the legislative process and to continue to serve the public and the community as he always has.”
Mason edged out the incumbent by 1,039 votes, earning 52.27 percent of the district’s votes. Watson fell short with 47.71 percent.
While Watson won the parts of James City and York counties in District 93, Mason won the cities of Williamsburg and the portion of Newport News that is in the district. In Newport News, Mason picked up 60.93 percent of the votes, good for 1,638 votes more than Watson. In Williamsburg, Mason won handily with 2,758 votes (64.29 percent of the total). Watson picked up the remaining 35.71 percent of the vote, giving him 1,532 total votes in the city.
In James City County, Mason received 3,644 votes (44.58 percent) while Watson received 4,502 votes (55.08 percent of the vote). In York County, Mason received 950 votes (33.05 percent of the vote) while Watson received 1,917 votes (66.77 percent of the vote).
Watson was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2011, when he beat Democrat Robin Abbott with 51.7 percent of the vote compared to Abbott’s 48.08 percent.
Watson and Mason met twice for debates in the weeks leading up to the election. The first debate was held at the College of William and Mary and featured Watson touch on jobs and the economy on almost every question he was asked. Mason focused on education and social issues. In the second debate, sponsored by the Greater Williamsburg Chamber & Tourism Alliance, the candidates, who are both members of the alliance, spent much of that debate talking about tourism and transportation.
During the race, Watson enjoyed a fundraising advantage over Mason from beginning to end. Despite large infusions of cash in the final weeks of the campaigns to both candidates, Watson remained ahead of Mason. The Virginia Public Access Project, a nonprofit which tracks candidates and elections in Virginia, is reporting that Watson had $917,825 and Mason had $608,151 in total receipts since Jan. 1, 2012.
