Biography:

Diane Watson was born Nov. 12, 1933, in Los Angeles and lives there. She has made a life in public office starting in 1975, when she became the first black woman elected to the Board of Education of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Watson received a bachelor of arts degree in education from University of California, Los Angeles and a master's degree in school psychology from California State University, Los Angeles. In 1987 she earned a Ph.D. in educational administration from the Claremont Graduate School.

In 2001, Watson was elected to fill the U.S. House seat of Democratic Rep. Julian Dixon, who died of an apparent heart attack. She was elected to a full term in 2002.

She is single.

Past Campaigns:

In 1975, Diane Watson was elected to the Board of Education of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

In 1978, she became the first black woman to be elected to the state Senate, where she served for 20 years.

In 2001, Watson was elected to fill the seat of Democratic Rep. Julian Dixon, who died of an apparent heart attack.

She received 72,955 votes or 75 percent of the vote to Noel Irwin Hentschel, a relatively unknown Republican businesswoman, who garnered about 20 percent of the vote.

She was elected to a full term in 2002.

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