Mark Taylor | |
---|---|
10th Lieutenant Governor of Georgia | |
In office January 11, 1999 –January 8, 2007 | |
Governor | Roy Barnes Sonny Perdue |
Preceded by | Pierre Howard |
Succeeded by | Casey Cagle |
Member of the Georgia Senate from the 12th district | |
In office May 1987 –January 1999 | |
Preceded by | Al Holloway |
Succeeded by | Mike von Bremen |
Personal details | |
Born | Mark Fletcher Taylor May 7,1957 Albany,Georgia,U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Sacha Wilbanks |
Education | Emory University (BA) University of Georgia (JD) |
Mark Fletcher Taylor (born May 7,1957) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served two terms between 1999 and 2007 as the 10th lieutenant governor of Georgia. Taylor was the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia in 2006,losing in the general election to Republican incumbent Sonny Perdue.
Taylor was born on May 7,1957,in Albany,Georgia. He is a graduate of Deerfield-Windsor School in Albany. Taylor earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Emory University and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia. At Emory,Taylor joined the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
Taylor is married to the former Sacha Wilbanks of Lavonia,Georgia. Taylor has one adult son,Fletcher. Taylor is a member of the Porterfield Methodist Church in Albany.
During the administration of Governor Joe Frank Harris,Taylor was elected to the Georgia Senate. He won a special election on May 3,1987,and succeeded to Democratic incumbent Al Holloway as the state senator representing the 12th district,which encompasses the city of Albany and Dougherty County. He won re-election in 1988,1990,1992,1994 and 1996. [1]
Taylor became floor leader under Harris' successor,Zell Miller. In that role,he marshalled bipartisan support for Miller's HOPE Scholarship program in 1993. Taylor also worked to help create the Peachcare program,which provides health care assistance to uninsured children of low income families.
During the early 1990s,Taylor made crime reduction a major priority. He secured passage of the "Victim's Bill of Rights" as well as the "Two Strikes" law,at the time the strictest anti-violent crime measure in the country. Taylor also successfully advocated for Georgia's first DNA database,which has now solved more than 300 previously unsolved crimes.
Taylor declined running for re-election as a state senator in 1998 to pursue a run for the office of Lieutenant Governor. He defeated Republican candidate Mitch Skandalakis and took office on January 11,1999. He won re-election in 2002 over Republican nominee Steve Stancil and was sworn in for a second term on January 13,2003.[ citation needed ]
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%.
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]
Taylor is chief executive officer of the Fred Taylor Company, an Albany transportation and warehousing firm, as well as several of its subsidiaries. [4]
George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III is an American politician, veterinarian, and businessman who served as the 31st United States secretary of agriculture from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 81st governor of Georgia from 2003 to 2011 and as a member of the Georgia State Senate from 1991 to 2002.
Lera Catharine "Cathy" Cox is an American academic administrator and former lawyer, politician, and journalist. She is President of Georgia College & State University. Cox, a member of the Democratic Party, previously served as Secretary of State of Georgia, a candidate for Governor of Georgia in 2006, Dean of Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University, and as the 21st president of Young Harris College.
Ralph Eugene Reed Jr. is an American political consultant and lobbyist, best known as the first executive director of the Christian Coalition during the early 1990s. He sought the Republican nomination for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Georgia but lost the primary election on July 18, 2006, to state Senator Casey Cagle. Reed started the Faith and Freedom Coalition in June 2009. Reed and his wife JoAnne Young were married in 1987 and have four children. He is a member of the Council for National Policy.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 7, 2006, in 36 states and two territories. The elections coincided with the midterm elections of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.
The 2006 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2006. Georgia incumbent Republican governor Sonny Perdue ran for re-election to a second and final term as governor. Governor Perdue was renominated by the Republican Party, defeating a minor opponent in the process, while Lieutenant Governor Mark Taylor narrowly emerged victorious from a competitive Democratic primary. In the general election, though Taylor ran a spirited campaign, Perdue was aided by the increasing tendency of the state to vote for Republicans and by his popularity with the public; polling showed his approval ratings above sixty percent. In the end, Perdue was overwhelmingly re-elected as governor, defeating Taylor in a landslide, becoming the first Republican Governor of Georgia to ever be reelected. As of 2024, this is the last time that Muscogee, Warren, Rockdale, Chatham, and Bibb counties voted for the Republican candidate for governor and the last time that Marion, Telfair, and Wheeler counties voted for the Democratic candidate.
Lowell Stacy "Casey" Cagle is an American politician who served as the 11th lieutenant governor of Georgia from 2007 to 2019.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 5, 2002, in 36 states and two territories. The Republicans won eight seats previously held by the Democrats, as well as the seat previously held by Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, who was elected on the Reform Party ticket but had since renounced his party affiliation. The Democrats won 10 seats previously held by the Republicans, as well as the seat previously held by Maine governor Angus King, an independent. The elections were held concurrently with the other United States elections of 2002.
Thurbert Earl Baker served as the first African American Attorney General of the U.S. state of Georgia. He was appointed to the position in 1997 by Governor Zell Miller and served until January 10, 2011.
In the 2006 Georgia elections, Incumbent Governor Sonny Perdue, the first Republican Governor of Georgia since reconstruction, was re-elected over then-Lieutenant Governor Mark Taylor (D).
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The 2002 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Democratic governor Roy Barnes sought re-election to a second term as governor. State Senator Sonny Perdue emerged as the Republican nominee from a crowded and hotly contested primary, and he faced off against Barnes, who had faced no opponents in his primary election, in the general election. Though Barnes had been nicknamed "King Roy" due to his unique ability to get his legislative priorities passed, he faced a backlash among Georgia voters due to his proposal to change the state flag from its Confederate design.
James Nicholas Ayers is an American political strategist and consultant who served as Chief of Staff to Vice President Mike Pence between July 2017 and January 2019. He had previously served as national chairman for Pence's vice-presidential campaign in 2016, as well as executive director of the Republican Governors Association from 2007 to 2010.
Paul N. Bennecke is an American political consultant for candidates of the Republican Party and partner in the Atlanta-based public-affairs firm, Connect South. He is the former executive director of the Republican Governors Association (RGA). He was appointed to that position in December 2014 and ended his term on December 31, 2018. Previously, he served as deputy executive director and political director of the RGA from January 2007 to January 2011 and led two US Senate campaigns for David Perdue.
The 2014 United States Senate election in Georgia was held on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Georgia, concurrently with the election of the Governor of Georgia, as well as elections to the United States Senate in other states, to the United States House of Representatives, and to various other state and local offices.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Georgia on November 4, 2014. All of Georgia's executive officers were up for election as well as a United States Senate seat, all of Georgia's fourteen seats in the United States House of Representatives and all seats in both houses of the Georgia General Assembly. Primary elections were held on May 20, 2014. Primary runoffs, necessary if no candidate wins a majority of the vote, were held on July 22, 2014.
The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia were held on November 3, 2020, to elect the 14 U.S. representatives from the state of Georgia, one from each of the state's 14 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections.
The 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Georgia. Incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp won re-election to a second term, defeating Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams in a rematch. Abrams conceded on election night. The primary occurred on May 24, 2022. Kemp was sworn in for a second term on January 9, 2023.
Several elections took place in the U.S. state of Georgia in 2022. The general election was held on November 8, 2022. A runoff election for one of Georgia's seats in the United States Senate was held on December 6, 2022. The runoff was scheduled because none of the candidates for Senate received 50% of the statewide vote in the general election. In addition to the Senate seat, all of Georgia's seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election. Also up for election were all of Georgia's executive officers and legislative seats, as well as one seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission. The Republican Party decisively won every single statewide office in Georgia except for the Federal Senate race which narrowly went Democratic in 2022.
The 1998 Georgia lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998, to elect the lieutenant governor of Georgia, concurrently with the 1998 gubernatorial election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Georgia is one of 21 states that elects its lieutenant governor separately from its governor.
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