Mark Nielsen

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Mark Nielsen (born 1964) was a Connecticut politician during the 1990's and was legal counsel to Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. On August 21, 2006 Romney announced he was promoting Nielsen to serve as his Chief of Staff.

Nielsen, a Republican, was elected in 1992 to a seat in the Connecticut House of Representatives from Danbury. In 1994 he was elected to the Connecticut Senate. He was among the most vocal conservatives in the Connecticut legislature and filed a lawsuit to enforce the state's spending cap. He left his legislative seat in 1998 to challenge Democratic Congressman James H. Maloney. He was narrowly defeated that year and was nominated for a rematch in 2000, which he lost by a wider margin.

Nielsen, a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School, returned to Massachusetts to work for Governor Romney in 2004. Following his years working for Romney, Nielsen became associate general counsel for Massachusetts based defense contractor Raytheon. In 2007, it was reported Nielsen had been considered for the vacant U.S. Attorney post in Boston, but declined the position. [1]

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Preceded by
Lawrence Anastasia		 Connecticut state representative for the One Hundred and Thirty-Eighth District
1993–1995		 Succeeded by
David Cappiello
Preceded by
James Maloney		 Connecticut Senator from the Twenty-Fourth District
1995–1999		 Succeeded by
David Cappiello
Preceded by
Gary A. Franks		 Republican Party Nominee for the 5th Congressional District of Connecticut
1998 (lost), 2000 (lost)		 Succeeded by
Nancy L. Johnson