Susan D. Parker (born September 30, 1955) is an American Democratic

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. A resident of Rogersville, Parker was elected

Alabama State Auditor The state auditor of Alabama is constitutionally required to make a complete report to the governor of Alabama showing the receipts and disbursement of every character, all claims audited and paid out, and all taxes and revenues collected and paid ...

in 1998 and served until 2002.Alabama Public Service Commission

Birth

Susan Parker was born on September 30, 1955, in

Eva, Alabama Eva is a town in Morgan County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area and the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 589, up from 519 in 2010. Th ...

Education

Parker received an AS from Calhoun Community College in 1975(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

Parker was an Administrator, Calhoun Community College, 1972–1988, 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

Parker was elected as

in 1998. 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 A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

seat when she defeated Julian L. McPhillips in the Democratic primary. 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. She lost the general election to

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

Republican Senator

Jeff Sessions Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States attorney general from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United Stat ...

, 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. . In 2006, Parker defeated former state Representative Perry Hooper Jr., of Montgomery for the Place 2 position on the

Alabama Public Service Commission The Alabama Public Service Commission, commonly called the PSC, was established by an act of the Alabama Legislature in 1915 to primarily replace the State Railroad Commission. The PSC's responsibility was expanded in 1920 to include regulatin ...

. Though Hooper had defeated former

state Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

John Amari of Trussville in the Republican primary, he lost to Parker in the general election. 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.

References

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

External links

Brief Political Graveyard profileCommissioner Susan D. Parker
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...