User:Boardwalknw8/sandbox

Revision as of 13:55, 4 December 2019

Mike Berlon is a long time American politician, political strategist, lawyer and lobbyist whose career spans more than 40 years. He is a former candidate for Congress and has held several major leadership positions within the Democratic Party and at the State and National levels. [1] Berlon was elected in 2011 as the Chairman of the Georgia Democratic Party by the largest margin in Georgia History.[2] Berlon was the first non-elected or appointed official to hold the post of Democratic Party Chairman in Georgia.[3][4]

Berlon resigned as State Party Chairman after being accused of professional misconduct involving the misuse of trust account funds related to his law firm in 2013. After accepting responsibility, Berlon plead guilty to one count of wire fraud in 2015 and was sentenced to a prison term at the Federal Prison camp located in Pensacola, Florida. [5][6]For the more than 4 years he was there, Berlon worked for the Education Department and served as the Law Librarian at the Camp.[7].

Personal & Professional Life Mike Berlon was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the oldest of five children. Berlon's father was an attorney who was involved in Democratic causes. His mother was a former school teacher. Berlon attended St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati and graduated in 1977.[8] Berlon moved to Georgia in 1984 after he was married to the former Susan Markham. In Georgia, he worked as an adjuster for a multi-line insurance company. While working full time, Berlon completed his undergraduate studies at Georgia State University. He graduated with a degree in Political Science with a primary concentration on US-Soviet relations and Middle East Policy. Berlon went on to complete his legal studies and graduated from Georgia State's College of Law in December, 1992.[9] Berlon also holds an undergraduate degree in Sociology from Thomas Edison State University.[10][11]

Berlon was sworn in to practice law in February, 1993. He specialized in trial practice and courtroom work handling civil and criminal cases at the State and Federal trial and appellate levels for more than 21 years. This included extensive motion practice, jury verdict research and trial preparation. Berlon voluntarily surrendered his license to practice law in Georgia in 2014. [12]

Political Career Berlon began his political career while still in high school, working actively on a variety of campaigns. In 2002, Berlon was recruited by the Georgia Democratic party to run for Congress in the heavily Republican 7th Congressional District against Congressman John Linder and former Congressman Bob Barr, a former House Republican Impeachment Manager.[13][14][15] Berlon was endorsed by the Atlanta Journal but lost the race performing better than expected. [16] Berlon was also endorsed a second time by the paper in a later statewide run for the Public Service Commission. [17]

In December, 2002, Berlon was elected as County Party Chair in Gwinnett County. Berlon was reelected unanimously to four terms and served 8 years in that role. [18][19] During that time Berlon also held a variety of positions at the State level, including 7th District Congressional Chair, State Committee Member and Executive Committee Member. He also served two terms as the Chairman of the state wide Georgia Association of Democratic County Chairs.[20]

In January, 2011, Berlon was elected as the Chairman of the State Democratic Party. [21] Berlon ran on a platform that emphasized a grassroots strategy to make the Democratic Party more competitive outside of the Atlanta metro area[22] and a progressive platform including job creation, increased pay for teachers and educators, and increased funding of public schools.[23]

Berlon was a strong critic of elected Democrats that switched to the Republican Party.[24] During his tenure, several Democrats switched parties to take advantage of the state's Republican-lean, most notably State House Caucus Chair Doug McKillip,[25] and State Representative Rick Crawford (who stated his intention to switch immediately after his re-election campaign).[24] The Democratic Party of Georgia unsuccessfully attempted to remove Crawford from the ballot.[26] All three party-switchers lost in their next election.[27][28] [29]

In 2011, Berlon was elected to serve as a member of the Democratic National Committee’s Executive Committee and was appointed to the Rules Committee. [30][31] Berlon served as the Chairman of the Georgia Delegation to the 2012 Democratic National Convention. During this time Berlon arranged to have Dr. Joseph Lowery elected as his Co-Chair. [32] Dr. Lowery had given the Benediction at the 2008 Inauguration for President Obama but was not an elected delegate to the 2012 Convention.[33]

Berlon was appointed by then President Obama to serve as one of 18 Presidential Electors to the Electoral College in the State of Georgia.[34][35][36] Berlon has authored several policy positions for the Party, elected officials and candidates on a wide variety of issues ranging from domestic to foreign policy. In 2012 and 2013, Berlon was named as one of the most influential politicians in the State of Georgia by Janes Magazine.[37]

Berlon resigned his position in June, 2013 after allegations of misuse of funds involving his law practice arose. [38] Berlon's position was subsequently taken over by former House Minority leader DuBose Porter in a special election that followed.[39]

References ^ http://www.mikeberlon.com/index.shtml ^ "Mike Berlon Elected Georgia Dem Party Chairman". firstcoastnews.com. 2004-05-19. Retrieved 2013-02-11. ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_of_Georgia ^ "Party Officers | Georgia Democrats". Georgiademocrat.org. 2011-01-29. Archived from the original on 2013-02-08. Retrieved 2013-02-10. ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Prison_Camp,_Pensacola ^ https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/pen/ ^ https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/ ^ https://www.stxavier.org/alumni ^ https://law.gsu.edu/alumni/ ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison_State_University ^ https://www.tesu.edu/alumni/?__hstc=83487305.07430159d50a3c91e72c280a7921bf0d.1492473600120.1492473600121.1492473600122.1&__hssc=83487305.1.1492473600123&__hsfp=1773666937 ^ https://www.gabar.org/MemberSearchDetail.cfm?ID=MDU0ODIy ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Barr ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Linder ^ https://transition.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2002/house1.htm#ga ^ “Atlanta Journal, Constitution November 1,2002, Editorial Page” ^ https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=28042033&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjQyNDYzMzA4OSwiaWF0IjoxNTc1MzE5NjY4LCJleHAiOjE1NzU0MDYwNjh9.KiJzVK-C5zCx1yOpHh2cz-X7cJrGRwbhrvsriKANmio ^ Atlanta Journal Constitution, "Democratic Party Chair Re-elected to 4th Term", January 10, 2010 ^ www.gwinnettcouty democrats.org ^ http://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/rachel-maddow-show/2012-01-26 ^ "Mike Berlon Elected Georgia Dem Party Chairman". firstcoastnews.com. 2004-05-19. Retrieved 2013-02-11. ^ "Democrats Court Voters Outside Atlanta". Gpb.org. Retrieved 2013-02-10. ^ "No challenge is more vital than job creation". www.ajc.com. Retrieved 2013-02-10. ^ Jump up to: a b "Georgia Democrats furious at turncoat lawmaker". 11alive.com. Archived from the original on 2013-04-07. Retrieved 2013-02-10. ^ "State Rep. Doug McKillip is 7th Ga. Democrat to Switch to GOP - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5". Myfoxatlanta.com. 2010-12-07. Archived from the original on 2013-05-27. Retrieved 2013-02-10. ^ "Dems Want Crawford Off Ballot". Gpb.org. Retrieved 2013-02-10. ^ "Quick beats McKillip in House District 117; Frye takes down Heard in District 118 House contest". Online Athens. 2012-08-01. Retrieved 2013-02-10. ^ "Bell's political star fades after primary loss". Gainesvilletimes.com. 2012-08-04. Archived from the original on 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2013-02-10. ^ "Election Dobbs takes BOC seat Ray wins BOE seat". Times-Georgian. Archived from the original on 2012-11-15. Retrieved 2013-02-10. ^ http://www.p2012.org/parties/committees/dnc12.html ^ DNC Convention Magazine, September 2012 ^ https://www.georgiademocrat.org/rev-dr-lowery-elected-chairman-of-georgias-convention-delegates/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Democratic_National_Convention ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pEH37JIgBU ^ https://sos.ga.gov/index.php/elections ^ Georgia Secretary of State Records, Presidential Elector Results, November, 2012 ^ Georgia Secretary of State Election Certification Results, Presidential Electors Slate, 2012 ^ “Janes Magazine”, March-April, 2012, p. 11; March/April 2013, p. 11 ^ "Ga. Democratic Party chairman steps down". wsbtv.com. 2013-05-29. Retrieved 2013-06-22. ^ http://www.gpb.org/news/2013/09/20/dubose-porter-defends-democrats