Susan D. Parker (born September 30, 1955) is an American Democratic politician from Alabama. A resident of Rogersville, Parker was elected Alabama State Auditor in 1998 and served until 2002.[1]

Susan Parker
37th Auditor of Alabama
In office
January 18, 1999 – January 20, 2003
GovernorDon Siegelman
Preceded byPat Duncan
Succeeded byBeth Chapman
Personal details
Born (1955-09-30) September 30, 1955 (age 69)
Eva, Alabama, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationCalhoun Community College
Athens State University (BS)
University of Alabama (MA, PhD)

Birth

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Susan Parker was born on September 30, 1955, in Eva, Alabama.[2]

Education

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Parker received an AS from Calhoun Community College in 1975[2](a977), a BS from Athens State College and an MA from the University of Alabama in 1977, and a Ph.D., in Higher Education Administration of Higher Education from the University of Alabama in 1985. She completed a program of alternate studies at Memphis Theological Seminary in 2014.

Professional experience

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Parker was an Administrator, Calhoun Community College, 1972–1988,[2] Chief Development Officer/Assistant to the President, Athens State College, 1988–1996, and President, Parker Plus Consulting, 1996–1998, Ordained as a minister by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, April, 2014, Interim President, Memphis Theological Seminary 2018-2019

Politics

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Parker was elected as Alabama State Auditor in 1998.[3] She did not seek reelection in 2002, and was succeeded in office by Republican Beth Chapman.

In 2002 Parker was the first woman in Alabama to be nominated for a Senate seat when she defeated Julian L. McPhillips in the Democratic primary.[1] Commentators drew attention to the perceived sexism of McPhillips who questioned whether Parker was fit to consider family issues because she had no children of her own.[4][5] She lost the general election to incumbent Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, winning 40% of votes against Sessions' 59%. In 2003, Parker campaigned for Amendment 1 to the Alabama Constitution, a referendum which proposed, inter alia, new sources of funding for public education, a measure that was defeated at the polls. .[3][6]

In 2006, Parker defeated former state Representative Perry Hooper Jr., of Montgomery for the Place 2 position on the Alabama Public Service Commission. Though Hooper had defeated former state Senator John Amari of Trussville in the Republican primary, he lost to Parker in the general election.[1]

She had been mentioned as a possible candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Alabama in the 2010 election, but declined and instead lost her reelection bid for the Public Service Commission to Republican Terry L. Dunn.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Alabama Public Service Commission Archived 2007-02-08 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b c "Susan D. Parker's Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  3. ^ a b Allen Tullos (2011). Alabama Getaway: The Political Imaginary and the Heart of Dixie. University of Georgia Press. p. 168. ISBN 9780820339610.
  4. ^ James C. Cobb (2011). The South and America Since World War II. Oxford University Press. p. 231. ISBN 9780195166514.
  5. ^ Eleanor Clift; Tom Brazaitis (2016). Madam President, Revised Edition: Women Blazing the Leadership Trail. Routledge. pp. 248–249. ISBN 9781136705243.
  6. ^ "Alabama Excellence Initiative Fund, Amendment 1". Ballotpedia. September 2003. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  7. ^ "SUSAN PARKER TO RUN FOR STATE PSC AGAIN". Deb Murphree/Alabama Politics. February 24, 2009.

www.commercialappeal.com/story/opinion/2018/8/11/14 www.dailymemphian.com/article/925/Memphis-Theological-Seminary-battling-budgeet-problems-with-new-president-Susan-Parker-guiding-the-way

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Political offices
Preceded by Auditor of Alabama
1999–2003
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the Alabama Public Service Commission
Seat 2

2007–2011
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by
Charley Baker
Democratic nominee for State Auditor of Alabama
1998
Succeeded by
Carolyn Gibson
Preceded by Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Alabama
(Class 3)

2002
Succeeded by