Watkins to Announce Bid for Tx House of Representatives District 23

By Gloria Way

  Nathan Watkins will announce his candidacy for the Republication nomination for Texas House of Representatives District 23 on Wednesday, October 15^th, at Cactus Jack’s restaurant in Mont Belvieu. Watkins will unveil his agenda for House D-23 and his campaign team at the event.

  In an exclusive interview with Watkins, Watkins said that he has been asked to run for the last four years since current State Senate Mayes Middleton vacated the House seat to run for the State Senate. “Four years ago was not the right time for me,” said Watkins. “Of course, I was humbled by the fact that so many people asked me to do it. But I had just left my position as City Manager of Mont Belvieu and started my new career at Americus Holdings, and the timing was not right.”

 Republican Terri Leo Wilson of Galveston won the open House seat in 2022 to replace Middleton and won again in 2024. Wilson is seeking reelection to House D-23. She and Watkins will face off in the GOP primary on March 3, 2026, to determine who will face the Democrat nominee in the general election on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

  “This opportunity presented itself,” said Watkins. “Almost unanimously, everyday people and groups in Austin, have encouraged me to consider to run. There has absolutely been no discouragement.”

  “Having years of experience in the public sector and now in the private sector, I understand both sides of the aisle,” said Watkins. “As city manager for Mont Belvieu, I learned a great deal about public finance, capital infrastructure planning and construction, public facilities, public broadband networks, having led more than $200 million in projects during my tenure.” Watkins added, “I successfully negotiated $4 billion in economic projects for the city of Mont Belvieu and the $200 million in capital projects included public facilities, road, water, sewer, parks and broadband internet service.”

  Since leaving the City of Mont Belvieu, Watkins took the position of vice-president of Americus Holdings in Houston as vice-president. Americus Holdings is a real estate development company specializing and delivering Public, Private, and Partnerships with government entities.

  Americus Holdings, LTD is providing Chambers County pre-development services to deliver a 170,000 square-foot Justice Center Project that includes a new 300 bed County Jail, a new County Courthouse with 6 courtrooms, a new County Law Enforcement Center with 911 / PSAP and Emergency Operations spaces, and 450 surface parking spaces. This project will be developed under the build-finance-maintain (BFM) delivery method.

  Another Americus Holdings project is The Brickyard project, in partnership with Barbers Hill School District Education Foundation. The Brickyard project has been permitted to develop 2 phases of multi-family projects. The first phase will include a 365,000 square foot, 336 Unit, Luxury, Garden Style Class A- Apartment Development designed to meet the demand in the market for a Class A- product with a strong sense of community.

  Watkins graduated from The University of Houston with a BA in Political Science and a Master of Public Administration. He also studied at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Executive Education – State and Local Government.

  Prior to his position in Mont Belvieu, Watkins served in the US Navy for six years as Special Boat Operator Team Member volunteering for Naval Special Warfare training as a Special Warfare Combat Crewman. He deployed to the Al Anbar Province of Iraq as a National Level Asset working directly with Seal Team Six and Delta Force. 

  Watkin, 42, has lived in the Mont Belvieu area in Chambers County since he was 10 years old. He currently lives in Cove with his wife Jessica and two children.