Eric Charles Clark (born July 25, 1951) is an American politician and academic who served as the Secretary of State of Mississippi from 1996 to 2008.
[3][4][5][6] On January 3, 1984, he challenged the leadership of Speaker Buddie Newman by moving for the adoption of a set of House rules which unbundled some of the powers of the speakership.
Following Newman's replacement by Tim Ford in January 1988, Clark was made chairman of the House Rules Committee.
He narrowly defeated Amy Tuck in the Democratic primary runoff and faced Republican state senator Barbara Blanton in the general election.
[12][13] He served as the interim Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives at the opening of its 2008 session on January 8 to swear in the legislators before allowing the body to elect its own leadership.