Florida Files

Officeholders

John Wesgarth Watson III

2023 Form 6 · annual filing (Commission on Ethics) · received 2024-07-01 · 4 pages (text)

Net worth$1,828,394
Income listed$250,563
Real estate$0
Debts listed$291,356
Worth a look0

Where listed income comes from

  • Investments & retirement 98% $246,563 · Retirement Benefit Form 1099R, Social Security Benefit SSA-1099, Nationwide Retirement Account Distribution {REDACTED}, FRS Investment Plan Disbursement {REDACTED}
  • Other / unclassified 2% $4,000 · State of Forida Senior Judge Wages W-2

Worth a look 0

Nothing stood out under the current rules.

Context 4

Context Unusual reporting

Lists 1 investment account ($1,032,671) instead of what's in them

The instructions say the investments held in a brokerage account or IRA are the assets to report — not the account itself. As listed, the public can't see what the filer is invested in.

What to check
  • Which companies or funds are in these accounts? Holdings matter for conflicts of interest.

Rule: Accounts listed instead of investments
“Note that the product contained in a brokerage account, IRA, or the Florida College Investment Plan, is your asset”2023 Form 6 instructions, Assets ✓ quoted from the saved instructions · how this rule works

Context Unusual reporting

Net worth $1,828,394; listed items add up to $1,065,623

Reported net worth: $1,828,394. Household goods + listed assets − listed liabilities = $1,065,623. A difference is normal: net worth also counts assets and debts that aren't listed individually (items under $1,000, credit cards, taxes), and the instructions say subtracting listed liabilities from listed assets won't give an accurate figure in most cases.

What to check
  • No action needed unless other items look off.

Rule: Net worth vs. listed items
“Simply subtracting your liabilities from your assets will not result in an accurate net worth figure in most cases.”2023 Form 6 instructions, Net Worth ✓ quoted from the saved instructions · how this rule works

Context Income & business ties

64% of listed income ($160,100) comes from Retirement Benefit Form 1099R

Listed income totals $250,563 from 5 sources. The largest is classed as investments & retirement.

What to check
  • Who is this source, and does it have business before the office sought?
  • If the filer owns it, check the business section and secondary income.

Rule: Where the money comes from
“List the name of each source of income that provided you with more than $1,000 of income during”2023 Form 6 instructions, Income ✓ quoted from the saved instructions · how this rule works

Context Wealth & holdings

Reports a net worth of $1,828,394 — a millionaire on paper

Net worth is the filer's own figure. Being wealthy isn't a problem; it's context for comparing candidates and for reading the rest of the form.

What to check
  • Compare with the other candidates in the race.
  • Check that the large assets below are described and valued clearly.

Rule: Net worth tier
“Report your net worth as of”2023 Form 6 instructions, Net Worth ✓ quoted from the saved instructions · how this rule works

Where to look next

These links open official public records, built from what the filer disclosed. They're searches you run yourself — results may include other people or companies with similar names.

Their filings

Other filings by John Wesgarth Watson III

FilingReceivedNet worthItems
2025 Form 6 — annual (Commission on Ethics)2026-07-02$1,947,947
2024 Form 6 — annual (Commission on Ethics)2025-07-01$1,950,120
2022 Form 6 — annual (Commission on Ethics)2023-07-03$1,843,945

Net worth

Net worth
As of
Household goods (lump sum)

Assets over $1,000 $1,244,979 listed

DescriptionValue

Liabilities over $1,000 $291,356 listed

CreditorAddressAmount

Joint and several liabilities not reported above

Reported as “N/A”.

Income $250,563 listed

Elected to attach federal tax return instead:

Primary sources

SourceAddressAmount

Secondary sources (major customers of businesses owned)

Reported as “N/A”.

Interests in specified businesses

Reported as “N/A”.

Signature

Signed by
Date
Filed with COE

Source

Document
Open PDF · original source
Retrieved
2026-10-11T02:46:35+00:00
SHA-256
9d6aa96cab82bf78f658d34da544e25eefbf6ed7e194eb711ab1b6df7fe89935
Pages
p1 form6 · p2 form6 · p3 form6 · p4 form6
Extraction
parser v0.5.2; 0 value(s) below 80% confidence