State Auditors of Alabama
Susan Parker | |
|---|---|
| 37th Auditor of Alabama | |
| In office January 18, 1999 – January 20, 2003 | |
| Governor | Don Siegelman |
| Preceded by | Pat Duncan |
| Succeeded by | Beth Chapman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 30, 1955 Eva, Alabama, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | Calhoun Community College Athens State University (BS) University of Alabama (MA, PhD) |
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 was born on September 30, 1955, in Eva, Alabama.[2]
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.
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
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]
