Mark Parkinson

Mark Parkinson

Mark Vincent Parkinson (born June 24, 1957 in Wichita , Kansas ) is an American lawyer and politician . The former Republican and current Democrat held the post of governor in the state of Kansas from 2009 to 2011 . He followed from the post of Deputy Governor on Kathleen Sebelius after this April 28, 2009 as the new Minister of Health of the United States had been confirmed.

Life

Parkinson's family is originally from Scott County , far west of Kansas, and still owns a farm there. He attended high school in Wichita, then graduated from Wichita State University in 1980 summa-cum-laude, and was the best in law school at the University of Kansas in 1984 . He then went into business for himself as a lawyer and opened his own law firm, Parkinson, Foth & Orrick . In 1996 he retired from this industry and began developing facilities for assisted living.

politics

His political career began in 1991 when he entered the Kansas House of Representatives for the Republicans , of which he was a member until 1992. From 1993 to 1997 Parkinson was then a state senator . Between 1999 and 2003 he was chairman of the Kansas Republican Party . In 2004, he became chairman of the Shawnee Chamber of Commerce , and the following year he became chairman of all six Johnson County's chambers of commerce .

In May 2006, Governor Kathleen Sebelius announced that Parkinson had changed party affiliations and joined the Democrats. At the same time she presented him as her candidate for lieutenant governor in the upcoming election; Incumbent John E. Moore , also a Republican who converted to Democrats shortly before his election as lieutenant governor, decided not to run again. The Republicans sharply criticized Parkinson for his party change, pointing out that four years earlier he had disparagingly described Governor Sebelius as a “left-wing and liberal Democrat”. In his response, Parkinson admitted that he had made a mistake in his assessment at the time. His change of party was occasionally referred to as an opportunist act, but was also seen as exemplary of the bitter struggle between moderates and conservatives in the Republican Party of Kansas.

After Kathleen Sebelius was confirmed as US Secretary of Health by the Senate, Mark Parkinson succeeded her. He was the 45th governor in the history of the state. The term ended in January 2011; Parkinson had announced early on that he did not want to reapply for the post in the November 2010 gubernatorial election . Instead, he became CEO of the American Health Care Association . He was succeeded by the Republican Sam Brownback .

Web links

• Mark Parkinson in the National Governors Association (English)
• Biography at the Kansas Historical Society (English)
• Project Vote Smart (English)
• Mark Parkinson in the nndb (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chris Moon: Parkinson's party switch causes debate (en) , The Topeka Capital-Journal. June 2, 2006. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009 Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved February 19, 2009.  
2. ^ Peter Baker, Pear, Robert: Kansas Governor Seen as Top Choice in Health Post (en) , The New York Times. February 19, 2009.