Eric Clark | |
---|---|
34th Secretary of State of Mississippi | |
In office January 4, 1996 –January 10, 2008 | |
Governor | Kirk Fordice Ronnie Musgrove Haley Barbour |
Preceded by | Dick Molpus |
Succeeded by | Delbert Hosemann |
Member of the MississippiHouseofRepresentatives from the 79th district 80th (1980-1984) | |
In office January 1980 –January 16,1996 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Mize,Mississippi,U. S. | July 25,1951
Political party | Democratic |
Alma mater | Millsaps College (BA) University of Mississippi (MA) Mississippi State University (PhD) |
Eric Charles Clark (born July 25,1951) is an American politician and academic who served as the Secretary of State of Mississippi from 1996 to 2008.
Eric Charles Clark was born on July 25,1951,in Mize,Mississippi. Graduating from Taylorsville High School,he earned a Bachelor of Arts from Millsaps College,Master of Arts from the University of Mississippi,and PhD in history from Mississippi State University. [1] His father,John Clark,served in the Mississippi House of Representatives in the 1930s and 1940s. [2]
Clark began his career as a high school and community college teacher. He was a history instructor at Mississippi College from 1989 to 1995. He was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives,representing Smith County districts,for four terms from 1980 to 1996. [3] [4] [5] [6] On January 3,1984,he challenged the leadership of Speaker Buddie Newman by moving for the adoption of a set of House rules which unbundled some of the powers of the speakership. His proposal failed,but gained the support of 25 other representatives,leading to the collective label of the "Gang of 26". Newman responded to the challenge to his authority by assigning the 26 insignificant committee responsibilities. [7]
In 1987,reformist legislators succeeded in curbing some of the powers of the speaker. Following Newman's replacement by Tim Ford in January 1988,Clark was made chairman of the House Rules Committee. [8]
In 1995 Clark ran for the office of Secretary of State of Mississippi. He narrowly defeated Amy Tuck in the Democratic primary runoff and faced Republican state senator Barbara Blanton in the general election. He campaigned on his legislative record in the House of Representatives and defeated her in the November 7 contest. [9] He was sworn in on January 4,1996. [10] He was re-elected in 1999 and 2003. He did not seek reelection in 2007 [11] and was succeeded in office by Republican Delbert Hosemann on January 10,2008. [12] [13] He served as the interim Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives at the opening of its 2008 session on January 8 to swear in the legislators before allowing the body to elect its own leadership. [14]
In 2008 Clark was made executive director of the Mississippi Community College Board. [15] He retired in June 2015. [16]
David Ronald Musgrove is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 62nd governor of Mississippi from 2000 to 2004. A Democrat,he previously served as the 29th lieutenant governor of Mississippi from 1996 to 2000. He was the Democratic nominee in the 2008 special election for one of Mississippi's seats in the United States Senate,losing to incumbent Senator Roger Wicker. Musgrove is a principal at a public affairs consulting firm,Politics. In 2014,he became founding partner of a new law firm in Jackson,Mississippi,Musgrove/Smith Law. As of 2024,he is the most recent Democrat to hold the office of Governor of Mississippi.
Raymond Edwin Mabus Jr. is an American politician and lawyer. A member of the Democratic Party,he served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2017. Mabus previously served as the State auditor of Mississippi from 1984 to 1988,as the 60th governor of Mississippi from 1988 to 1992,and as the United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994 to 1996.
The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature,the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890,it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected for four-year terms. To qualify as a member of the House candidates must be at least 21 years old,a resident of Mississippi for at least four years,and a resident in the district for at least two years. Elections are held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Richard Henderson Molpus Jr. is an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as Secretary of State of Mississippi from 1984 until 1996. He unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1995 against Republican incumbent Kirk Fordice. He later established a timberland management company. Throughout his public life he has pushed for reforms to support public education and promote racial reconciliation.
The Mississippi State Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature,the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate,along with the lower Mississippi House of Representatives,convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson. The Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi serves as President of the Senate.
The lieutenant governor of Mississippi is the second-highest ranking elected executive officer in the U.S. state of Mississippi,below the governor of Mississippi,and is the only official in the state to be a member of two branches of state government. The office of lieutenant governor was established when Mississippi became a state in 1817,abolished for a few decades in the first half of the 19th century,and restored later in the century. The lieutenant governor serves a four-year term with a two consecutive term limit. The current lieutenant governor is Delbert Hosemann,a Republican,who has held the office since 2020.
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Eddie Jerome Briggs is an American politician and lawyer. After service in the Mississippi State Senate,Briggs was the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi,a position which he held from 1992 to 1996. He was the first Republican to have held the office of lieutenant governor of Mississippi since Reconstruction.
The Government of Mississippi is the government of the U.S. state of Mississippi. Power in Mississippi's government is distributed by the state's Constitution between the executive and legislative branches. The state's current governor is Tate Reeves. The Mississippi Legislature consists of the House of Representatives and Senate. Mississippi is one of only five states that elects its state officials in odd numbered years. Mississippi holds elections for these offices every four years in the years preceding Presidential election years.
Percy Willis Watson is an American politician. He is a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from the 103rd District,being first elected in 1980. He is a member of the Democratic party.
The 1995 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 7,1995 to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Republican Kirk Fordice won reelection to a second term. This is the last time that a gubernatorial nominee and a lieutenant gubernatorial nominee of different political parties were elected governor and lieutenant governor in Mississippi.
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Thelma Williams Farr Baxter was an American politician,schoolteacher,and business owner who served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1950 to 1956. A member of the Democratic Party,she was first elected after running unopposed to fill the seat vacated by her late husband,Paul Farr,who had died in a car accident. She ran for re-election the following year against four primary opponents;after no candidate received a majority of the vote,a runoff election was held,which Farr won. After leaving office in 1956,she continued to teach English and managed a family business.
Ellis Barkett Bodron was an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician who served in the Mississippi State Senate from 1952 to 1984 and in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1948 to 1952. He was blind.
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Cecil Lamar Simmons is an American politician,lawyer,and entomologist. He served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1972 to 1998 and was its first Speaker Pro tempore,serving from 1987 to 1992. Simmons became a leader in House reform and in 1987 led a coalition of House members to curtail the Speaker's powers,creating the position of Speaker pro tempore in the process. He then led opposition to the increasing power of the new speaker Tim Ford.