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]
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
Secretary of the Vermont Senate. "Biography, Senator Mark A. MacDonald". Vermont State Senate. Montpelier, VT: Vermont General Assembly. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
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