Wesley Wade Watkins (December 15, 1938 – March 26, 2025) was an American politician from the state of Oklahoma. Watkins was a member of the United States House of Representatives where he represented Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district for 14 years as a Democrat and then for six years as a Republican.

Watkins was born in De Queen, Arkansas, on December 15, 1938, but grew up in Bryan County. He graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1960, receiving a Master's degree from that same school in 1961. While at OSU, he was the president of the student body and student senate.

After a brief stint working for the United States Department of Agriculture, he worked as an administrator at his alma mater from 1963 to 1966. During that time, he was initiated into Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity as an honorary member while serving as their faculty advisor. From 1960 to 1967, he served in the Oklahoma National Guard.

Watkins was elected to the Oklahoma State Senate in 1974. Two years later, U.S. House Speaker Carl Albert announced his retirement after 30 years representing the 3rd District. Based in the southeastern part of the state, an area known as Little Dixie, the 3rd was heavily Democratic in both local and national elections.

Watkins faced a formidable opponent in Albert's popular longtime Chief of Staff and Administrative Assistant, Charles Ward. However, Watkins had closer local ties in the district, while Ward had spent decades in Washington. Watkins prevailed in the Democratic primary runoff and he then gained Albert's endorsement and won the general election with 82% of the vote.

He was later reelected six more times, always by close to 80% of the vote. For most of this time, he served on the Budget or Appropriations Committees.

Watkins did not seek an eighth term in 1990, instead running for the Democratic nomination for governor to succeed Republican Henry Bellmon. He raised nearly $3 million for his campaign, at one point outspending his opponents by nearly $1.4 million in June 1990. In the Democratic primary, he ran ahead of House Speaker Steve Lewis, yet lost to eventual winner David Walters, who had been the Democratic Gubernatorial nominee four years earlier in 1986.

Watkins was openly disappointed in the lack of support from the state Democratic hierarchy, and by 1994 began referring to the Oklahoma Democratic Party as an organization run by "arrogant political bosses". By later in 1994, Watkins ran for governor again, this time as an Independent. He only won 23% of the vote. However, his independent candidacy siphoned off enough votes from Lieutenant Governor Jack Mildren, the Democratic candidate, to allow Frank Keating, a Reagan administration official, to become only the third Republican governor in Oklahoma history at that point. Watkins tallied over 233,000 votes, far more than Keating's 171,000-vote margin over Mildren. He won by heavy margins in rural areas, particularly his former congressional district, winning many of the counties there by large margins.