Mark G. Ricks is a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 politician from Idaho. He served as the 40th Lieutenant Governor of Idaho

Lieutenant Governor of Idaho

Lieutenant Governor of Idaho is a constitutional statewide elected office in the State of Idaho. According to the Idaho Constitution, the lieutenant governor is elected to a four-year term....

 from June 2006 to January 2007.

Ricks was appointed lieutenant governor by Governor Jim Risch

Jim Risch

James Elroy "Jim" Risch is a Republican politician, rancher, and attorney from Ada County, currently serving as the junior United States Senator from Idaho. He previously served as Lieutenant Governor and Governor of Idaho.-Early life:Risch was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin...

 to fill a vacancy caused by Risch's succession to governor in May 2006. He was succeeded by Risch, who was reelected lieutenant governor in November 2006. Ricks was not a candidate for public office that year.

Ricks' appointment was seen by some as an effort by Risch to reach out to voters in the Eastern Idaho

Eastern Idaho

Eastern Idaho is a generic term used to describe areas of Idaho which lie east of the Magic Valley region. It is generally understood to include: Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Bonneville, Butte, Caribou, Clark, Custer, Franklin, Fremont, Jefferson, Madison, Oneida, Power and Teton...

 region should Risch decide to run for governor at some point in the future. However Risch dismissed this as "pure speculation."

Ricks was a member of the Idaho Legislature

Idaho Legislature

The Idaho Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Idaho. It consists of the upper Idaho Senate and the lower Idaho House of Representatives. The Idaho Senate contains 35 Senators, who are elected from 35 districts...

, serving in the Idaho Senate

Idaho Senate

The Idaho Senate is the upper chamber of the Idaho State Legislature. It consists of 35 Senators elected to two-year terms, each representing a district of the state. The Senate meets at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, Idaho.-Composition of the Senate:...

 from 1979 to 1994. While in the Senate, he served as Senate Majority Leader, chairman of the State Affairs Committee, as a member of the Joint Finance Committee, and as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He was chairman of the Council of State Governments - West and the chairman of the Special Task Force on Reapportionment for the National Council of State Legislatures. He was appointed by former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne

Dirk Kempthorne

Dirk Arthur Kempthorne , was the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, who served under President George W. Bush from 2006 to 2009. A Republican, Kempthorne previously served as the 30th Governor and as a U.S. Senator from Idaho...

 to the Idaho 2020 Blue Ribbon Task Force in 2002.

Ricks is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has served in several church leadership positions. He was a stake

Stake (Mormonism)

A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. A stake is approximately comparable to a diocese in the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations...

 president in Rexburg during the 1976 Teton Dam

Teton Dam

The Teton Dam was a federally built earthen dam on the Teton River in southeastern Idaho, set between Fremont and Madison counties, USA, which when filling for the first time suffered a catastrophic failure on June 5, 1976. The collapse of the dam resulted in the deaths of 11 peopleand 13,000 head...

failure and played a key role in local disaster relief efforts. http://www.localnews8.com/video/2870351.html