Mark Baker (Mississippi)

This page was current at the end of the official's last term in office covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Mark Baker

Republican Party

Prior offices:

Mississippi House of Representatives District 74

Years in office: 2004 - 2020

Successor: Lee Yancey (R)

Elections and appointments

Last election

August 6, 2019

Education

Bachelor's

University of Memphis

Law

Mississippi College School of Law

Personal

Religion

Christian: Presbyterian

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign X

Mark Baker (Republican Party) was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, representing District 74. Baker assumed office in 2004. Baker left office on January 7, 2020.

Baker (Republican Party) ran for election for Attorney General of Mississippi. Baker lost in the Republican primary on August 6, 2019.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Baker earned his B.A. from the University of Memphis and J.D. from the Mississippi College School of Law. His professional experience includes working as a Board Attorney for Brandon and Puckett, Prosecutor for the city of Brandon, and Municipal Judge for the city of Pelahatchie.

Committee assignments

2019-2020

Baker was assigned to the following committees:

• Investigate State Offices Committee
• Banking and Financial Services Committee
• Judiciary En Banc Committee (decommissioned), Chairman
• Judiciary A Committee, Chairman
• Transportation Committee
• Ways and Means Committee

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Baker served on the following committees:

2012-2013

During the 2012-2013 legislative session, Baker served on the following committees:

2010-2011

During the 2010-2011 legislative session, Baker served on the following committees:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Issues

Presidential preference

2012

See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

Mark Baker (Mississippi) endorsed Newt Gingrich in the 2012 presidential election.

Elections

2019

See also: Mississippi Attorney General election, 2019

General election

General election for Attorney General of Mississippi

Lynn Fitch defeated Jennifer Collins in the general election for Attorney General of Mississippi on November 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lynn Fitch (R)	57.8	507,468
		Jennifer Collins (D)	42.2	370,068

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 877,536
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary runoff election

Republican primary runoff for Attorney General of Mississippi

Lynn Fitch defeated Andy Taggart in the Republican primary runoff for Attorney General of Mississippi on August 27, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lynn Fitch	52.1	168,278
		Andy Taggart	47.9	154,807

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 323,085
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Attorney General of Mississippi

Jennifer Collins advanced from the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Mississippi on August 6, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jennifer Collins	100.0	253,042

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2 Source 3	Total votes: 253,042
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Attorney General of Mississippi

Lynn Fitch and Andy Taggart advanced to a runoff. They defeated Mark Baker in the Republican primary for Attorney General of Mississippi on August 6, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lynn Fitch	44.2	163,733
✔		Andy Taggart	28.6	105,689
		Mark Baker	27.2	100,598

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2 Source 3	Total votes: 370,020
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2015

See also: Mississippi House of Representatives elections, 2015

Elections for the Mississippi House of Representatives took place in 2015. A primary election was held on August 4, 2015. The general election took place on November 3, 2015. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 27, 2015. No Democratic candidates filed for election. Incumbent Mark Baker was unopposed in the Republican primary. Baker ran unchallenged in the District 74 general election.

2011

See also: Mississippi House of Representatives elections, 2011

On November 8, 2011, Baker won re-election to District 74 of the Mississippi House of Representatives. He ran unopposed in the August 2 primary and was unchallenged in the November 8 general election.

2007

See also: Mississippi House of Representatives elections, 2007

On November 6, 2007, Baker was re-elected in District 74, running unopposed.

Mississippi House of Representatives, District 74 (2007)
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Mark Baker (R)		10,057	100.00%

Campaign themes

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Mark Baker did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign website

Baker's campaign website stated the following:

“	Crime Our Attorney General must prioritize protection for Mississippi’s children from exploitation, abuse and cyber-bullying, and protection of domestic violence. Moreover, our Attorney General must actively engage in the investigation and prosecution of cases involving political corruption and white-collar crime, areas ignored, unfortunately, by this current office. On a local level, we cannot continue to allow crime in places lacking the necessary resources to continue unchecked and to spill over into neighboring communities. Our Attorney General must take the lead in providing the leadership and resources necessary to implement a multi-jurisdictional strategy to assist law enforcement, prosecutors and judges to protect the public and to insure criminals actually go to jail and serve real sentences equal to the crimes they commit. Law Enforcement Having experience as a prosecutor and judge, I know the great risks faced by law enforcement in providing for our public safety. In the state legislature, I have consistently supported and voted to fund law enforcement as a priority. As Attorney General, I will insure that all necessary resources are available to law enforcement to protect themselves and the public. Immigration and Sanctuary Cities Our immigration laws must be enforced. I support President Trump’s executive order punishing sanctuary cities which forbid local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. Mechanisms must be put in place to withhold state dollars and impose other punitive measures to prevent the continued deterioration of the rule of law and to protect our citizens. Work and Drug Testing for Welfare The Trump administration is implementing policies which will allow states to impose work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries, and I expect they will soon consider implementing drug testing requirements too. This is a major policy shift on the federal level that I do support. Economic Development and Lawsuit Abuse Mississippi’s civil liability system was ranked 44th in the 2017 Lawsuit Climate Survey conducted for the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. In this survey, 85% of the respondents reported that a state’s litigation environment would impact business decisions, such as where to locate or operate business. Mississippi’s ranking is the direct result of continued abuse by our Attorney General who has handed out over 100 no-bid/no-lose contingency contracts and paid, without legislative approval, almost $100 million in contingency fees. Our next Attorney General must be willing to work with our state elected officials to resolve issues and work to bring these companies and the jobs they represent to Mississippi, and in those rare instances when lawsuits are necessary, our Attorney General, the lawyer Mississippians elect and pay to represent them, should be the one to handle the case. Unauthorized Expenditure of Public Funds Mississippi’s current Attorney General has a history of circumventing the legislative appropriation process and using settlement money from the virtually limitless lawsuits filed by that office to fund pet programs without legislative enactment. Our elected officials should follow the law when it comes to spending taxpayers’ money. Our next Attorney General must end this cycle of abuse and lack of accountability. Reducing the Size of Government Government doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. We have implemented historic tax cuts, reduced spending and reduced the size of state government. We must continue to transition from a tax system that relies predominately on income and property taxes to one weighted more to consumption taxes which by nature is more fair and inclusive for all Mississippians. I Will Fight for Mississippi As Attorney General not only will I fight against attempts by the federal government to impose mandates on our state and our citizens that erode our constitutional rights; in addition, I will vigorously defend the laws of our state, including laws seeking to protect our gun rights, the rights of the unborn and our religious freedoms.	”
—Mark Baker’s campaign website (2019)

Campaign finance summary

Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Mississippi

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Mississippi scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2019

In 2019, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 8 through March 29.

• Americans for Prosperity Mississippi

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.

• Business and Industry Political Education Committee

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues.

• National Federation of Independent Business

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

• The American Conservative Union

Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2018

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show].

In 2018, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 2 through March 28. ACLU Mississippi Legislators are scored by the ACLU on their whether their votes on bills "promote racial, cultural, and economic justice." Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2017

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show].

In 2017, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 3 through March 29. There was also a special session June 5. ACLU Mississippi Legislators are scored by the ACLU on their whether their votes on bills "promote racial, cultural, and economic justice." Americans for Prosperity Mississippi Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2016

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show].

In 2016, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 5 through April 21. ACLU Mississippi Legislators are scored by the ACLU on their whether their votes on bills "promote racial, cultural, and economic justice." Americans for Prosperity Mississippi Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. Empower Mississippi Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to education. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2015

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show].
In 2015, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 6 through April 2. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2014

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show].

In 2014, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 7 through April 2. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. Empower Mississippi: Senate and House Legislators are scored on their votes on education bills. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

See also

2019 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel Union Station

External links

Suggest a link

• Office website
• Official campaign website
• Facebook campaign page
• Twitter campaign page
• Profile from Open States
• Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
• Biography from Project Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions: 2009, 2007, 2005, 2003

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	Mississippi House of Representatives District 74 2004–2020	Succeeded by Lee Yancey (R)