Mark Fletcher Taylor (born May 7, 1957) is an American businessman, politician and member of the Democratic Party who served two terms between 1999 and 2007 as the 10th lieutenant governor of Georgia. Taylor was the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia in 2006, losing in the general election to Republican incumbent Sonny Perdue. Early life and education Taylor was born on May 7, 1957, in Albany, Georgia. He is a graduate of Deerfield-Windsor School in Albany. Taylor earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Emory University and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia. At Emory, Taylor joined the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Taylor is married to the former Sacha Wilbanks of Lavonia, Georgia. Taylor has one adult son, Fletcher. Taylor is a member of the Porterfield United Methodist Church in Albany. State Senate experience During the administration of Governor Joe Frank Harris, Taylor was elected to the Georgia Senate. He won a special election on May 3, 1987, and succeeded to Democratic incumbent Al Holloway as the state senator representing the 12th district, which encompasses the city of Albany and Dougherty County. He won re-election in 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1996. Taylor became floor leader under Harris' successor, Zell Miller. In that role, he marshalled bipartisan support for Miller's HOPE Scholarship program in 1993. Taylor also worked to help create the Peachcare program, which provides health care assistance to uninsured children of low income families. During the early 1990s, Taylor made crime reduction a major priority. He secured passage of the "Victim's Bill of Rights" as well as the "Two Strikes" law, at the time the strictest anti-violent crime measure in the country. Taylor also successfully advocated for Georgia's first DNA database, which has now solved more than 300 previously unsolved crimes. As lieutenant governor Taylor declined running for re-election as a state senator in 1998 to pursue a run for the office of Lieutenant Governor. He defeated Republican candidate Mitch Skandalakis and took office on January 11, 1999. He won re-election in 2002 over Republican nominee Steve Stancil and was sworn in for a second term on January 13, 2003. Gubernatorial candidacy In 2005, Taylor announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for the office of Governor of Georgia, and officially announced his candidacy on April 18, 2006. He built his campaign around his record on education and health care issues, which