About Mark Parkinson

Mark Parkinson is a third-generation St. Charles Countian, born in St. Charles City on October 30, 1972. He is a lifelong resident of St. Charles, and takes pride in his heritage and his community.

Mark is a graduate of Francis Howell Senior High School. After graduation, he pursued his education at Saint Louis Community College, earning a legal assistant degree in 1996. He built upon that education with a bachelor's degree in political science from Saint Louis University in 2000.

After graduating from SLU, Mark volunteered for the reelection campaign of U.S. Senator John Ashcroft. Following the campaign, he transitioned to the St. Louis district office for Senator Kit Bond. Serving as Sen. Bond's deputy district director, Mark helped direct the Senator's constituent services programs and was responsible for conducting the Senator's Listening Post porgram in 17 counties throughout the Greater St. Louis area and northeast Missouri. Mark took a temporary break from his official duties to help Senator Bond campaign for reelection, and proved instrumental. Senator Bond won reelection, and carried every county Mark worked in.

In 2007, state representative Carl Bearden stepped down from his position as representative for the 16th district. Based on a consensus from local Republicans, Mark was chosen to run on the Republican ticket. Mark won election on February 5th, 2008, and was sworn in on February 26th.

Since winning election, Mark has introduced several bills relating to a myriad of topics. In 2008, Mark was selected as a freshman legislator of the year for his work on immigration reform. Mark cites comprehensive immigration reform, property taxation, and transportation as his three largest concerns to tackle during his time in office.

On July 26, 2003, Mark married his high school sweetheart, Brigit Kendall. Brigit is employed by Boeing, where she deals with international relations and contracts. Mark and Brigit are the proud "parents" of Duchess, a 150-lb. Brazilian mastiff that they rescued from an animal shelter.