Mark Anthony Miloscia (born September 13, 1958) is an American politician and former public school teacher who served in the

Washington State Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olymp ...

from 2015 to 2019. 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 ...

for more than twenty years, in 2014 he switched to the Republican Party and ran for election to represent the 30th Legislative District in the state senate - winning by more than ten percentage points. In 2016, Miloscia ran for state auditor as a Republican, he lost the general election to Democrat Pat McCarthy by 5 percentage points. He represented the 30th legislative district for seven terms, from 1999 to 2013, in the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

. He was endorsed by ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington ...

'' newspaper for re-election in 2018.

Personal life

Miloscia was born in

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

, and lived there until the age of six when his family moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He lived with his family in New York City until graduating from

Francis Lewis High School Francis Lewis High School (FLHS) is a selective public high school located in Fresh Meadows, in the New York City borough of Queens. It is one of the most-applied-to public high schools in New York City with 9,468 applicants in 2016. Operated by t ...

. He is a retired officer of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

. He was a B-52 pilot and a contract manager for the Air Force for 10 years. He holds a

Bachelor of Science in Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Bach ...

from the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and U ...

, a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

(MA) degree from Chapman University in clinical psychology, and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

(MBA) degree from the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of N ...

. He has also completed the Leadership Program at the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. He has resided in Auburn, Washington, and then

Federal Way, Washington Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 census. Federal Way is the tenth-largest city in Washington and the fifth-large ...

with his wife Meschell, his three children, and his grandchildren for the last 25 years.

Professional career

Miloscia is a lobbyist for the Washington State Catholic Conference of Bishops. He is a substitute teacher for the Federal Way School District and the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle ''Formerly known as Diocese of Nesqually, 1850-1907.'' The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the U.S. state of ...

. He has also worked as the industrial services director for

Goodwill Industries Goodwill Industries International Inc., often shortened in speech and writing to Goodwill (stylized as goodwill), is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides job training, employment placement services, and other community-bas ...

in Tacoma, the executive director of Federal Way Youth and Family Services, and as a commissioner for the Lakehaven Utility District. he sits on the board of directors for the Federal Way Boys and Girls Club, is a member of St. Vincent's

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...

, and is a member of the Federal Way Chamber of Commerce. In 2018 he became the executive director of the Family Policy Institute of Washington, a

Family Research Council The Family Research Council (FRC) is an American evangelical activist group and think-tank with an affiliated lobbying organization. FRC promotes what it considers to be family values. It opposes and lobbies against: access to pornography, emb ...

(FRC) operating under the umbrella of James Dobson's Focus on the Family.

Political career

Miloscia served seven terms in the

Washington State House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 dis ...

as a Democrat. He was elected in 1998 from the 30th Legislative District, an area that includes Federal Way, Algona, and portions of Auburn,

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

, Milton, and Des Moines. On September 15, 2011, Miloscia announced his candidacy to run as a Democrat to replace retiring Washington State Auditor

Brian Sonntag Brian S. Sonntag (born December 28, 1951) was the ninth Washington State Auditor. He served five terms, from 1993 until his retirement in 2013. He is a Democrat. Personal Sonntag was born in 1951 in Tacoma, Washington. He attended Tacoma Commun ...

. Miloscia came under fire within his own party for his conservative positions on

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

and

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

, and he failed to receive its nomination. Miloscia was not among the top-two vote-getters in Washington's blanket primary system, garnering less than 10% of the vote, and thus did not appear on the November general election ballot. Fellow Democratic State Representative

Troy Kelley Troy Xavier Kelley (born 1964) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 10th Washington State Auditor from 2013 to 2017, and is a member of the Democratic Party. He is a lieutenant colonel JAG officer in the Washin ...

was elected as state auditor in November 2012. Miloscia's seat in the legislature was won by Republican Federal Way City Councilperson Linda Kochmar. While serving as a representative, Miloscia worked as a substitute teacher when the legislature was not in session. As of March 2014, Miloscia announced his candidacy for State Senate in the 30th Legislative District as a Republican. On March 6, 2014, Miloscia switched to the Republican Party when he announced his candidacy for the State Senate in the 30th Legislative District in 2014 - an election he ultimately won by more than 11 points. Miloscia is currently running for

Washington secretary of state The secretary of state of Washington is an independently elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Washington. Fifteen individuals have held the office of Secretary of State since statehood. The ...

in the 2022 special election.

Awards

2017: Third Class of the Order of Merit of the Ukraine

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miloscia, Mark 1958 births 21st-century American politicians Aviators from Washington (state) Chapman University alumni Francis Lewis High School alumni Living people Members of the Washington House of Representatives People from Auburn, Washington People from Federal Way, Washington Politicians from Biloxi, Mississippi Politicians from New York City Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class United States Air Force Academy alumni United States Air Force officers University of North Dakota alumni Washington (state) Democrats Washington (state) Republicans Washington (state) state senators