Mark MacDonald (Vermont politician)

Mark A. MacDonald (born December 18, 1942) is a Vermont educator, farmer, and Democratic Party politician who served several terms in both the Vermont House of Representatives and Vermont Senate.

Mark MacDonald
Member of the Vermont Senate
from the Orange County[1] district
Assumed office
January 2003
Preceded byWilliam Corrow
In office
January 1997 – January 2001
Preceded byStephen W. Webster
Succeeded byWilliam Corrow
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives
from the Orange-2 district
In office
July 1983 – January 1995
Preceded byBarbara MacDonald
Succeeded byMarion Milne
Philip C. Winters (2 member district)
Personal details
Born (1942-12-18) December 18, 1942
Middletown, Connecticut
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Roberta
Children3
ResidenceWilliamstown, Vermont
Alma materClark University
Norwich University
ProfessionTeacher, Farmer

Biography

Mark Alexander MacDonald was born in Middletown, Connecticut on December 18, 1942.[1][2] His father was Donald Gordon MacDonald, a longtime official with the Agency for International Development who directed AID's activities in Vietnam during the peak of the Vietnam War, and his mother was Barbara (McCloskey) MacDonald, a teacher, farmer and member of the Vermont House of Representatives.[3][4] MacDonald's family spent summers in Vermont beginning in 1947, and MacDonald became a permanent resident of Vermont in 1974.[1] He is a longtime resident of Williamstown.[1]

MacDonald was educated in New Jersey and Washington, DC, and graduated from Washington's Woodrow Wilson High School.[1][5] In 1966, he graduated from the Borough of Manhattan Community College with an associate degree in liberal arts.[6] MacDonald served in the United States Army from 1968 to 1970, including eighteen months of Vietnam War service.[1]

In 1972, MacDonald received a bachelor of arts degree in Government & International Relations from Clark University; he then attended Norwich University to obtain his certification as a school teacher.[1][5] In addition to teaching social studies at Randolph Union High School, MacDonald owned and operated a working cattle farm.[4][7]

MacDonald is a member of several clubs, civic organizations, and advocacy groups, including: Orange Southwest Teachers Association; Vermont Beef Producers Association; Orange County Farm Bureau; American Legion; Vietnam Veterans of America; and Chelsea Fish and Game Club.[1] From 1984 to 1994, he served on the Williamstown Planning Commission.[1]

In 1983, MacDonald was appointed to the Vermont House of Representatives to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his mother, who was serving her first term.[4] He was reelected five times, and served from July 1983 to January 1995.[1] In 1994 he was the Democratic nominee for the Orange County seat in the Vermont Senate, and was defeated by the Republican incumbent, Stephen W. Webster.[7]

In 1996, MacDonald defeated Webster for the Senate seat; he served two terms, January 1997 to January 2001.[1][7] In 2000, MacDonald was defeated by Republican William Corrow, a defeat attributed largely to backlash following MacDonald's support for Vermont's Civil Unions law.[8] In their 2002 rematch, MacDonald defeated Corrow.[9] He was reelected every two years since, and has served since January 2003.[1] In four more elections—1998, 2006, 2010, and 2016—MacDonald defeated Webster.[7]

In 2017, MacDonald was elected as the Senate's assistant majority leader.[10] According to press reports, he agreed to serve in this post with second-term Senator Becca Balint in the majority leader's position as a means of bridging the gap between the Senate's newer, younger members and its "old guard" veterans.[10] In 2021, he was succeeded as Whip by Cheryl Hooker.[11]

As of 2017, MacDonald was chairman of the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules.[1] He is also vice chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and a member of the Natural Resources and Energy, Rules, and Joint Energy Committees.[1]

Family

In 1983, MacDonald was married to Roberta June Pilk.[2][5] They are the parents of three children, daughters Janet and Rustie, and son Max (Mark Jr.); they also cared for several foster children.[5][12][13]

Electoral history
Vermont's Orange County Senate District election, 1994
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 3,558 46.8
Republican Stephen W. Webster 4,047 53.2
Vermont's Orange County Senate District election, 1996
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 4,576 50.8
Republican Stephen W. Webster 4,403 48.9
Vermont's Orange County Senate District election, 1998
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 4,217 52.7
Republican Stephen W. Webster 3,572 45.0
Libertarian Scott Berkey 204 2.6
Vermont's Orange County Senate District election, 2000
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 4,902 46.2
Republican William Corrow 5,215 49.1
Libertarian Scott Berkey 487 4.6
Vermont's Orange County Senate District election, 2002
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 1,047 97.6
General election
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 4,290 52.7
Republican William Corrow 3,844 47.2
Vermont's Orange County Senate District election, 2004
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 895 98.9
General election
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 5,979 58.2
Republican Brian Kenyon 4,284 41.7
Vermont's Orange County Senate District election, 2006
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 1,345 97.9
General election
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 5,485 61.9
Republican Stephen W. Webster 3,371 38.1
Vermont's Orange County Senate District election, 2008
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 557 98.9
General election
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 7,397 73.2
Constitution Charlie Russell 2,691 26.6
Vermont's Orange County Senate District election, 2010
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 2,203 96.4
General election
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 4,524 56.1
Republican Stephen W. Webster 3,517 43.7
Vermont's Orange County Senate District election, 2012
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 1,708 71.7
Democratic Tig Tillinghast 671 28.2
General election
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 7,618 96.0
Vermont's Orange County Senate District election, 2014
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 939 97.0
General election
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 3,797 54.2
Republican Robert C. Frenier 3,200 45.7
Vermont's Orange County Senate District election, 2016
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 5,723 54.0
Republican Stephen W. Webster 4,409 41.6
Vermont's Orange County Senate District election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 5,167 57.3
Republican Bill T. Huff 4,409 41.6
Write-in 11 0.1
Vermont's Orange County Senate District election, 2020
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark A. MacDonald 6,420 54.5
Republican Bill T. Huff 5,321 45.2
Write-in 33 0.3

References
  1. "Biography, Senator Mark A. MacDonald".
  2. "Virginia Marriage Records".
  3. "Obituary, AID Official Donald MacDonald".
  4. "Son to Complete Mom's House Term".
  5. Vermont Legislative Directory and State Manual 1989.
  6. "BMCC was 'a second chance'".
  7. "Orange County Senate Seat Rivals Face Off for Sixth Time".
  8. "Corrow Enjoys Narrow Victory".
  9. "Legislature: Democrats Make Gains".
  10. "Senate Democrats Elect Becca Balint as Majority Leader".
  11. "In Coming Session, Women Will Dominate Vermont Senate Leadership".
  12. "MacDonald Cites ‘Results’ In Reëlection Campaign".
  13. Vermont Legislative Directory and State Manual 1997.

Sources

Internet
  • Secretary of the Vermont Senate. "Biography, Senator Mark A. MacDonald". Vermont State Senate. Montpelier, VT: Vermont General Assembly. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  • "Virginia Marriage Records, 1936-2014, entry for Mark Alexander MacDonald". Ancestry.com. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, LLC. Retrieved February 21, 2017.

Newspapers

Books
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