Mike Connolly (Massachusetts politician)

Mike Connolly
Portrait of Mike Connolly wearing glasses and smiling
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
from the 26th Middlesex district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 4, 2017
Preceded byTim Toomey
Personal details
Born (1980-06-03) June 3, 1980 (age 44)
Dorchester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Other political
affiliations		Democratic Socialists of America (until 2023)
ResidenceCambridge, Massachusetts
EducationDuke University (BA)
Boston College (JD)
WebsiteOfficial website
Campaign website

Michael L. Connolly[1] (born June 3, 1980) is an American activist, attorney, and politician from Massachusetts.

Early life and career

Connolly was born in the Dorchester area of Boston, Massachusetts. From 2004 to 2006 he was a project manager for Rexel.[2] In 2007 he was a legal intern for the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.[2] From 2009 to 2010 he was a communications fellow for the Boston College Law Magazine.[2] While in law school, he volunteered with the Appellate Division of the Committee for Public Council Services where he served as an editor for the Intellectual Property and Technology Forum.[3] During this time he also spent summers working for the law firm of Goulston & Storrs, P.C. and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society.[3] He is a former staff writer and managing editor for the Journal of Law and Social Justice (formerly known as The Third World Law Journal).[3] From 2011 to 2012 he was a project manager for HP Autonomy.[2] From 2013 to 2014 he was the founder and campaign manager of Net Zero Cambridge.[2] Since 2013 he has been an instructor and tutor for Kaplan, Inc.[2]

Political career

From 2014 to 2015 he was an aide to Cambridge city councilman Dennis Carlone.[2]

He defeated Representative Timothy J. Toomey Jr. in September 2016 in the Democratic primary for the 26th Middlesex District, which comprises East Cambridge and East Somerville. Connolly was active with Occupy Boston and ran unsuccessfully against Toomey in 2012. In 2016, he was backed by Our Revolution, a Bernie Sanders-based political organization, and was endorsed by the prominent Cambridge academics Noam Chomsky and Lawrence Lessig.[4] Connolly beat Toomey by about 300 votes and was elected to represent the 26th Middlesex District after Toomey's term ended; Connolly did not face a Republican in the November 2016 election for the Massachusetts House of Representatives.[5] Connolly opposed the November 2016 "ballot question that would lift the charter school cap" and supports the legalization of recreational marijuana.[5] He is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, although the Boston chapter announced in July 2023 that they were considering his expulsion from the local chapter.[6][7] On July 10, 2023, Connolly announced he was leaving the DSA in response to the expulsion proceedings.[8]

His proposal to institute rent control in Massachusetts failed by a vote of 22-136.[9]

Personal life and family

Connolly is 6 feet 8 inches tall and played college football at Duke University. He is also a graduate of Boston College Law School.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ Michael Francis Connolly - Obituary
  2. ^ a b c d e f g LinkedIn Profile
  3. ^ a b c Mike Connolly (2012 campaign)
  4. ^ Adam Vaccaro (September 9, 2016) Once ‘No Money Mike,’ Cambridge’s Mike Connolly now primed for Beacon Hill Boston Globe. Accessed September 10, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Kyle Scott Clauss (September 9, 2016) Mike Connolly to Become First Occupier Elected to Beacon Hill Boston Daily. Accessed September 11, 2016.
  6. ^ Joseph M. Schwartz (June 14, 2017),Coalition Politics and the Fight for Socialism, Democratic Socialists of America
  7. ^ Boston DSA. "Official statement on the motion to expel Mike Connolly". Twitter. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  8. ^ "Twitter Status from Mike Connolly". Twitter. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  9. ^ Lisinski, Chris (August 3, 2023). "Cambridge rep moves to put rent control on state ballot". CommonWealth. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  10. ^ Chris Faraone (October 26, 2012) Against strenuous odds and a 20-year incumbent, Mike Connolly tries to occupy the State House — without raising a dollar: He Works Hard For No Money Boston Phoenix. Archive URL. Accessed September 11, 2016.