Mark Connolly (public official)

Mark Connolly (born September 2, 1955) is a candidate for the 2016 Democratic nomination for Governor of New Hampshire. Connolly is the former Deputy Secretary of State and Director of New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation. He held this position 2002 to 2009.

Connolly was born in Bedford, New Hampshire.

Connolly earned his B.A. in Government and Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College and received his MBA in Business from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.

Connolly served as a State Representative from Bedford, NH while a student at Dartmouth College.

He has worked for First Chicago, Chubb Life Insurance, Fleet Bank and Wellington Management in the area of investment management. He is now the owner and principal of New Castle Investment Advisors, LLC, an asset management firm, located in Portsmouth, NH (www.newcastleinvestments.com).

Mark Connolly was appointed Deputy Secretary of State and Director of Securities Regulation under Secretary of State William Gardner, where he oversaw cases against Tyco International, Ameriprise, ING, Pennichuck Corp., Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and UBS, netting more than $55 million in securities fines and investor restitution.

Connolly was awarded the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) Inc.'s Outstanding Service Award in 2010. He was also presented with the association's 2007 Enforcement Award. Connolly was elected to serve on the board of directors of NASAA and also served as that organization's treasurer.

Mark Connolly announces his campaign for the 2016 Democratic nomination for Governor of New Hampshire at FIRST.

On November 5, 2015 Connolly formally announced his candidacy for Governor of New Hampshire.

Connolly currently lives in New Castle, New Hampshire. He is the former Chairman of the town's Planning Board He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Strawberry Banks and the Portsmouth Athenaeum. He was a former board member of New Hampshire Child and Family Services, the New Hampshire Audubon, and the Greater Manchester Development Commission. He also served as a board member and Treasurer of the Ogunquit Museum of American Art.