Mark Taylor (politician)

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Mark and Sacha Taylor

Mark Fletcher Taylor, is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and is currently serving his second term as lieutenant governor of the U.S. state of Georgia. Taylor was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia in the 2006 general election, losing to Republican incumbent Sonny Perdue.

1 Biography
2 State Senate experience
3 As Lieutenant Governor
4 Gubernatorial candidacy
- 4.1 Campaign headquarters fire
- 4.2 Wikipedia controversy
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Biography

Taylor was born on May 7, 1957 in Albany, Georgia. He is a graduate of Deerfield-Windsor Preparatory 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. Taylor was a collegiate member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. Taylor represented Albany in the Georgia Senate until his election as lieutenant governor in 1998.

Taylor is married to the former Sacha Wilbanks of Lavonia, Georgia. Taylor has one adult son, Fletcher. Taylor is a member of the Porterfield United Methodist Church in Albany.

[edit] State Senate experience

On May 3, 1987, during the administration of Governor Joe Frank Harris, Taylor won a special election to the Georgia Senate, representing Albany and Dougherty County. He served in the state senate for twelve years before becoming Lieutenant Governor, and became Floor Leader under Harris' successor, Zell Miller. In that role, Taylor 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 poor 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.

[edit] As Lieutenant Governor

Taylor continued his efforts to reduce crime by successfully working to remove the statute of limitations on violent crimes such as rape and aggravated child molestation. Taylor also promoted a child endangerment law and legislation allowing judges to add an electronic monitoring device to the sentences of individuals convicted of crimes against children.

Taylor strongly opposed recent cuts in the Peachcare and HOPE scholarship programs. Recently, Taylor also successfully worked to promote the HEROES Act, which provides financial assistance to Georgia members of the National Guard. He worked to ensure equitable women's health insurance coverage and made the Georgia RX program a priority, which would provide access to affordable prescription drug coverage for the elderly and uninsured Georgians at no cost to taxpayers ^{[citation needed]}. He worked with state EMS officials and hospitals to implement a statewide trauma network.

Taylor blocked the Defense of Scouting bill, which would have prevented state agencies from barring use of public facilities or eligibility for funding for groups upholding "moral" membership criteria.^[1] The bill was targeted at the Boy Scouts of America, which prohibits atheist and agnostic boys from joining, bars gay men from adult leadership positions and requires gay Scouts to remain closeted or be expelled.

Taylor focused on education by supporting increases in teachers' salaries and fighting for smaller class sizes in grades K-3.

Taylor is an honorary chairman of Put Help in the Helmet, an organization that provides relief to all First Responders affected by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita, including fire, rescue, law enforcement officers, nurses, and Emergency Medical Service professionals.

[edit] Gubernatorial candidacy

See also: Georgia gubernatorial election, 2006

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 has not adequately addressed. Taylor was opposed by 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.

[edit] Campaign headquarters fire

On March 2, 2006, Taylor was the focus of media coverage when a campaign aide admitted to setting a fire at Taylor's campaign headquarters. No one was injured in the blaze, and the building sustained only minor damage.^[2] Josh White, a campaign aide to Taylor, later turned himself in and admitted to starting the fire.^[3]

[edit] Wikipedia controversy

On April 26, 2006, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a paragraph 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, 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.^[4]