David Parks (born December 22, 1943) is an
American politician from
Las Vegas, Nevada. A
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, he served in the
Nevada Senate for 12 years, representing the state's
7th district in
Clark County. He was elected to the Senate in November 2008, prior to which he had served in the
Nevada Assembly since 1996. He was term-limited in 2020 and did not run for re-election.
Early life and career
Educated at the
University of New Hampshire, Parks served in the
United States Air Force between 1967 and 1971, and was stationed at
Nellis Air Force Base in
Las Vegas. He then earned an
MBA at the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Political offices
A former assistant director of Clark County's Regional Transportation Commission,
he was first appointed to the
Paradise Town Advisory Board in 1991 and served three terms. He was elected the board's chairman in 1992 and served in that role until his election to the State Assembly in November 1996. He was re-elected comfortably in 1998 and 2000.
In 2002, longtime
Republican opponent Tony Dane (who Parks defeated in 1996 and 1998) convinced a man also called David Parks to run against him for the Democratic nomination in the 41st Assembly district. Challenger Parks' name was removed from the ballot when it became apparent that he was not a resident of Clark County, nor indeed of Nevada.
Incumbent Parks won the general election and was re-elected again in 2004 and 2006.
He was not a candidate for re-election to the Assembly in 2008 but instead ran for the
Nevada Senate in the 7th district, seeking to succeed
Dina Titus
Alice Costandina Titus (born May 23, 1950) is an American political scientist and politician who has been the United States representative for since 2013. She served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2011, when she was defeated by Joe ...
who mounted a successful bid for Congress.
Three Democrats and three
Republicans
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
filed for the seat. In the primary election held on August 12, 2008, he faced a well-funded opponent
but prevailed easily, winning 71 percent of the vote in a three-way race.
He faced Republican Lindsay Nicole Madsen in the November general election, winning easily; he garnered 68% of the vote to her 32%.
In 2010, he ran to succeed
Rory Reid on the
Clark County Commission, losing the Democratic primary election to
Mary Beth Scow
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
by just 91 votes.
He was appointed to the Governor's Statewide AIDS Advisory Task Force in 1987 (serving until 1994) and again in 2002 (still serving).
Electoral history
David Parks was elected in 1996 to serve in the
Nevada State Assembly
The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year terms from single-member distric ...
in Clark District 41.
Personal
He is
openly gay and was the
first openly gay member of the
Nevada Legislature
The Nevada Legislature is a bicameral body, consisting of the lower house, the Assembly, with 42 members, and the upper house, the Senate, with 21. With a total of 63 seats, the Legislature is the third-smallest bicameral state legislature in ...
. He is one of five openly LGBT members of the Nevada legislature, alongside Senators
Pat Spearman
Patricia Ann Spearman (born 1955) is an American cleric, veteran, and Democratic politician from North Las Vegas, Nevada. She was elected in November 2012 to the Nevada Senate representing District 1, that is composed of the northern section of ...
and
Kelvin Atkinson
Kelvin Atkinson (born April 8, 1969) is a former Democratic Party (United States), Democratic member of the Nevada Senate, representing Nevada's 4th Senate district, District 4. He previously served in the Nevada Assembly, representing Clark Count ...
, as well as Assemblymen
Andrew Martin and
James Healey. His election campaigns have won the support of the
Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.
[http://www.followthemoney.org/database/topcontributor.phtml?u=6893&y=0 ]
References
External links
Assembly homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parks, David
1943 births
Living people
Gay politicians
LGBT state legislators in Nevada
Democratic Party Nevada state senators
Democratic Party members of the Nevada Assembly
University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni
University of New Hampshire alumni
American LGBT military personnel
United States Air Force airmen
21st-century American politicians
21st-century LGBT people