Mark Taylor (American politician)

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In 2005, Taylor announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for the office of Governor of Georgia, and officially announced his candidacy on April 18, 2006. He built his campaign around his record on education and health care issues, which he felt that incumbent Republican Sonny Perdue had not adequately addressed. Taylor was opposed by Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox and two other minor candidates in the Democratic primary election on July 18, 2006. Taylor garnered approximately 52 percent of the vote in the primary election, gaining him the right to oppose Governor Perdue in the 2006 Georgia gubernatorial election.

In the general election Perdue defeated Taylor, 57.94% to 38.22%.

Wikipedia controversy

On April 26, 2006, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a paragraph based on opposition research had been inserted into the Wikipedia article on Mark Taylor about the 2005 arrest of Taylor's son on charges of driving under the influence, causing an accident in which a passenger in his car was killed. According to the Associated Press, Internet entrepreneur and Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales told reporters that the edit had been traced back to an IP registered to the Cox campaign, but said he had no way of knowing who made the change. After the story broke, Cox denied any knowledge of the alleged actions and said she had instructed her staff to not make the incident an issue. Her campaign manager, Morton Brilliant, resigned shortly thereafter. [2] [3]

Career since 2006

Taylor is chief executive officer of the Fred Taylor Company, an Albany transportation and warehousing firm, as well as several of its subsidiaries. [4]

See also

References

  1. Charles S. Bullock, III, The Georgia Political Almanach, The General Assembly 1993–94
  2. Taylor’s son was charged with driving under the influence (DUI) after crashing his car on August 18, 2005 in Charleston, South Carolina, killing his passenger. Salzer, James (April 26, 2006). "Cox's campaign manager resigning". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on April 28, 2006. Retrieved April 26, 2006.Shipp, Bill (August 23, 2005). "Son's car wreck could change Mark Taylor's political future". OnlineAthens. Retrieved April 26, 2006.[ dead link ] "Georgia lieutenant governor's son was driver in fatal S.C. crash". The State. Associated Press. Retrieved April 26, 2006.[ dead link ]
  3. "A False Ad in Georgia" "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 17, 2007. Retrieved March 26, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. MarkTaylor.com, Biography, Mark Taylor Archived September 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine , accessed January 25, 2013
Mark Taylor
Marktaylorpic.jpg
10th Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
In office
January 11, 1999 January 8, 2007
Georgia State Senate
Preceded by Member of the Georgia State Senate
from the 12th district

1987–1999
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
1999–2007
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
1998, 2002
Succeeded by
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Georgia
2006
Succeeded by