Mattie Parker

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Mattie Parker
45th Mayor of Fort Worth
Assumed office
June 15, 2021
Preceded byBetsy Price
Personal details
Born (1983-11-09) November 9, 1983 (age 38)
Political partyRepublican
EducationUniversity of Texas, Austin (BA)
Texas A&M University (JD)[1]

Mattie Parker (born November 9, 1983)[2][3] is an American politician serving as the Mayor of Fort Worth, Texas since 2021. After coming in second place in the first round of voting in May, Parker faced off against Deborah Peoples, the Tarrant County Democratic Party chair, in the run-off election on June 5, 2021. Parker received 53.5% of the vote in the nominally non-partisan election.[4][5]

In Fort Worth, mayors are elected to two-year terms. Parker succeeded Betsy Price, who was elected to five consecutive terms as mayor, including the 2019 election, in which Price also defeated Peoples. Price opted to not run for a sixth term in 2021 and endorsed Parker, her former chief of staff.[6]

Early life and education[]

Parker was born Mattie Jean Pearcy[7] in Hico, Texas, about 80 miles southwest of Fort Worth.[8] She graduated from Hico High School in 2002 before heading to the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in government.[8] In 2012, Parker graduated from the Texas Wesleyan School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree and, in 2013, was admitted to the State Bar of Texas.[7] Parker was in Texas Wesleyan's final graduating class before the law school was sold and became the Texas A&M University School of Law in 2013.[8][9]

Career[]

During her junior year at the University of Texas, Parker became a press assistant in then-Texas House of Representatives Speaker Tom Craddick's office.[8] She later became Craddick's deputy press secretary and served as his executive assistant after graduating from college.[10] Between 2007 and 2010, Parker worked as legislative director and chief of staff to Texas Rep. Phil King, a Republican from Weatherford.[8] While attending law school, Parker served as campaign manager for U.S. Rep Kay Granger, the first Republican woman to represent Texas in the U.S. House and Fort Worth's first female mayor.[10] In 2012, she became Granger's district director before leaving in 2014 to work as an associate attorney at Harris, Finley & Bogle, P.C.[10]

Parker was appointed chief of staff for Fort Worth's mayor and city council in 2015,[11] where she remained until April 2020. Parker then became the founding chief executive officer[12] of Fort Worth Cradle to Career, a nonprofit organization, and the Tarrant To & Through (T3) Partnership, a coalition of organizations focused on increasing the number of Tarrant County students who obtain a postsecondary credential before entering the workforce.[13][14][15] She left the position in July 2021 following her victory in the mayor's race, but remains on the board of directors.[16][17]

In January 2021, shortly after Price announced her decision not to run for another term, Parker went public with her campaign for mayor.[18] She received endorsements from Price and other prominent members of Fort Worth's business and philanthropic communities, including billionaire Sid Bass.[19] In the May 1 election, Parker earned 30.82% of the vote, finishing second behind Peoples, the outgoing Tarrant County Democratic Party chair.[20] The two candidates competed in a June 5 runoff, which attracted the highest early voter turnout in a Fort Worth mayor's race in at least a decade.[21] Prior to Election Day, Parker received an endorsement from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.[22] Parker won the runoff with 53.5%, becoming Fort Worth's first millennial mayor and the youngest mayor among the 25 largest cities in the U.S.[23][24][2] Parker raised and spent more than $1.98 million during the general election and runoff, a figure that surpassed any previous expenditures in Fort Worth mayoral races.[25][26] She was sworn in alongside four new city council members on June 14, 2021.[27]

Personal life[]

Parker and her husband, lobbyist David Parker, have a daughter and two sons.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ "Who's Next? Meet Four Candidates Running for Fort Worth Mayor". Fort Worth Magazine. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b Woodard, Teresa (June 15, 2021). "'It's Go-Time in Fort Worth': Mattie Parker Sworn in as Youngest Mayor of Any Major US City". WFAA. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  3. ^ "Mattie Parker - Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  4. ^ Svitek, Patrick (2021-06-06). "Mattie Parker declares victory in Fort Worth mayoral runoff". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  5. ^ "Tarrant County Election Results - June 5 Runoff" (PDF). Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  6. ^ FWBP Staff (2021-03-04). "Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price endorses Mattie Parker". Fort Worth Business Press. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  7. ^ a b "State Bar of Texas |Find A Lawyer |Mattie Jean Pearcy Parker". www.texasbar.com. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Ranker, Luke (June 18, 2021). "Meet Mattie Parker. How family, Texas politics and a tiny town shaped Fort Worth's mayor". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  9. ^ Hamilton, Reeve (2013-08-13). "A&M's Law School Acquisition Differs From Original Plan". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  10. ^ a b c Sanchez, Jacob (2021-04-12). "Mattie Parker bets on Fort Worth wanting new generation of leadership as she runs for mayor". Fort Worth Report. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  11. ^ Dillard, Betty (2015-05-08). "Fort Worth lawyer named chief of staff to mayor, council". Fort Worth Business Press. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  12. ^ "Mattie Parker". www.fortworthtexas.gov. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  13. ^ Ranker, Luke (June 7, 2021). "Who is Mattie Parker, Fort Worth's next mayor?". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
  14. ^ Staff, FWBP (2021-01-19). "Parker joins race for Fort Worth mayor". Fort Worth Business Press. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  15. ^ "Voter guide: Questionnaire for Mattie Parker, candidate for Fort Worth Mayor". voterguide.dallasnews.com. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  16. ^ Staff, FWBP (2021-11-04). "Tarrant education organization names new executive director". Fort Worth Business Press. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  17. ^ "Board of Directors - T3 Partnership". t3partnership.org. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  18. ^ Clarridge, Emerson (January 17, 2021). "Attorney, education nonprofit executive will enter a packed race for Fort Worth mayor". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  19. ^ Ranker, Luke (January 22, 2021). "A Fort Worth mayoral candidate has endorsements from the Bass family, other big names". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  20. ^ Ranker, Luke (May 1, 2021). "Mattie Parker, Deborah Peoples head to June 5 runoff in race for Fort Worth mayor". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  21. ^ Lopez, Brian (June 4, 2021). "Nearly 50,000 cast early votes in Fort Worth, most in last decade for a mayor's race". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  22. ^ Dearman, Eleanor (June 2, 2021). "Gov. Greg Abbott weighs in with his endorsement in the race for Fort Worth mayor". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  23. ^ "Mattie Parker & Fort Worth Make History: She'll Be Youngest Mayor Of A Top-25 U.S. City". KERA News. 2021-06-06. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  24. ^ Epstein, Reid J. (2021-06-07). "Republicans win two Texas mayoral races, including one in McAllen, which is 85 percent Hispanic". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  25. ^ Gordon, Scott. "Mattie Parker Spent Nearly $2 Million to Campaign for Fort Worth Mayor, a $29,000 Per Year Job". NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  26. ^ Sanchez, Jacob; April 19, Fort Worth Report; 2021 (2021-04-19). "Big money flows into once-in-a-decade mayor's race". Fort Worth Report. Retrieved 2022-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ Fine, Julie; Gordon, Scott. "'It Is Go Time': Mattie Parker Sworn in as Fort Worth Mayor". NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Fort Worth
2021–present 		Incumbent
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