Mark Parkinson
From Ballotpedia
Mark V. Parkinson is currently serving as the Governor of Kansas. He is a lawyer, businessman, and Democratic politician who became the governor of Kansas when Kathleen Sebelius took a position in the Obama administration.
Background
Parkinson was born in Kansas. After graduating from Wichita State University in 1980 and first in his class at the University of Kansas in 1984, Parkinson began to practice law. In 1996, he left his law practice of Parkinson, Foth & Orrick to begin creating assisted living facilities.
Political career
Parkinson entered Kansas politics as a Republican in 1990. He served in the Kansas state house from 1991-1992 and the senate from 1993-1997. From 1999-2003, he was Chairman of the Kansas Republican Party. In 2004, he served as chairman of the Shawnee Area Chamber of Commerce board.
On May 31, 2006, Governor Kathleen Sebelius announced that Parkinson had switched parties and was her running mate for her reelection campaign, succeeding retiring lieutenant governor John E. Moore (also a former Republican who had switched parties shortly before he joined a ticket with Sebelius). Parkinson's business abilities and willingness to work with both Republicans and Democrats were the reasons Sebelius gave for choosing him.
The Kansas Republican Party immediately labeled Parkinson a hypocrite, citing 2002 quotes where Parkinson called Sebelius a "left-wing liberal Democrat" and claimed that any Republicans who supported her were "either insincere or uninformed." Parkinson responded to the criticism by saying he had doubted Sebelius four years earlier, but came to believe she provided "independent leadership" for the state. He said, "In an age where leaders duck responsibility and dodge their mistakes let me be the first to say: I was wrong."[1] Some viewed his switch as opportunism; others felt his decision was another example of the bitter divide between moderates and conservatives in the Kansas Republican Party, and that the move encouraged more moderate Republican voters to move closer to the Democratic Party. [2]
External links
References
- Twiddy, David. "Kan. Gov. Selects Running Mate for Race". Associated Press. May 31, [1]
- Klepper, David. "Sebelius-Parkinson ticket is talk of two parties". Kansas City Star. June 1, 2006
| ||||||||||||||
