Mark Fletcher Taylor (born May 7, 1957) is an American businessman, politician and member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

who served two terms between 1999 and 2007 as the 10th

lieutenant governor of Georgia The lieutenant governor of Georgia is a constitutional officer of the State of Georgia, elected to a four-year term by popular vote. Unlike in some other U.S. states, the lieutenant governor is elected on a separate ticket from the Governor of Ge ...

. Taylor was the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia in 2006, losing in the general election to Republican incumbent

Sonny Perdue George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III (born December 20, 1946) is an American veterinarian, businessman, politician, and university administrator who served as the 31st United States Secretary of Agriculture from 2017 to 2021. He previously served as t ...

Early life and education

Taylor was born on May 7, 1957, in

Albany, Georgia Albany ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia. Located on the Flint River, it is the seat of Dougherty County, and is the sole incorporated city in that county. Located in southwest Georgia, it is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia m ...

. He is a graduate of

Deerfield-Windsor School Deerfield-Windsor School is an independent K–12 coeducational college preparatory school in Albany, Georgia, United States. History Deerfield-Windsor School was founded in 1964 when eight men, led by William T. Bodenhamer, set out to establish ...

in Albany. Taylor earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in political science from

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

and received his Juris Doctor from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. At Emory, Taylor joined the

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...

fraternity. Taylor is married to the former Sacha Wilbanks of

Lavonia, Georgia Lavonia is a city in Franklin and Hart Counties, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,156 at the 2010 census, up from 1,827 at the 2000 census. Geography Lavonia is located in northeastern Franklin County at (34.436055, -83.106270). A s ...

. Taylor has one adult son, Fletcher. Taylor is a member of the Porterfield

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...

in Albany.

State Senate experience

During the administration of Governor

Joe Frank Harris Joe Frank Harris (born February 16, 1936) is an American businessman and Democratic politician who served as the 78th Governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1983 to 1991. Early life and career Harris was born in the Atco Mill Village o ...

, 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. Taylor became floor leader under Harris' successor,

Zell Miller Zell Bryan Miller (February 24, 1932 – March 23, 2018) was an American author and politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as lieutenant governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as U. ...

. In that role, he marshalled bipartisan support for Miller's HOPE Scholarship program in 1993. Taylor also worked to help create the

Peachcare PeachCare for Kids is a low-cost health insurance program for children of uninsured, low-income families in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia who do not qualify for Medicaid. It is operated by the Georgia Department of Community Healt ...

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.

As lieutenant governor

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.

Gubernatorial candidacy

In 2005, Taylor announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for the office of Governor of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, 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 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 ...

had not adequately addressed. Taylor was opposed by

Georgia Secretary of State The Secretary of State of the U.S. state of Georgia is an elected official with a wide variety of responsibilities, including supervising elections and maintaining public records. The office has had a four-year term since 1946. Before 1880, th ...

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

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 In politics, opposition research (also called oppo research) is the practice of collecting information on a political opponent or other adversary that can be used to discredit or otherwise weaken them. The information can include biographical, le ...

had been inserted into the

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...

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 The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

, 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.

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.MarkTaylor.com
Biography, Mark Taylor
, accessed January 25, 2013

References

External links

Lieutenant Governor's websiteTaylor's campaign website
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Mark 1957 births Emory University alumni Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators Lieutenant Governors of Georgia (U.S. state) Living people People from Albany, Georgia University of Georgia alumni 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians Candidates in the 2006 United States elections