Mark Nielsen was a Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

 state senator during the 1990s and later served as legal counsel and chief of staff to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney

Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...

. Nielsen currently is Associate General Counsel at Praxair, a large industrial gases company headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut.

In 1992, Nielsen, 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...

, was elected to a seat in the Connecticut House of Representatives

Connecticut House of Representatives

The Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency containing nearly 22,600 residents...

 from Danbury

Danbury

Danbury is a city in Connecticut, U.S.Danbury may also refer to:*Danbury, Saskatchewan, Canada*Danbury, Essex, UK*Danbury, Iowa, U.S.*Danbury, Nebraska, U.S.*Danbury, New Hampshire, U.S.*Danbury, North Carolina, U.S.*Danbury, Texas, U.S....

. In 1994, he was elected to the Connecticut Senate

Connecticut Senate

The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 94,600 inhabitants. Senators are elected to two-year terms without term limits...

. He was among the most vocal fiscal conservatives

Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

 in the Connecticut legislature and filed a lawsuit to enforce the state's constitutional spending cap. Nielsen waged narrowly unsuccessful runs for Congress in 1998 and 2000.

Nielsen is a graduate of Harvard College

Harvard College

Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...

 and Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

. In 2007, it was reported that Nielsen was under consideration by the Bush Administration

George W. Bush administration

The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...

for the vacant U.S. Attorney post in Boston, but he declined the position. http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/blog/2007/03/nielsen_wont_se.html In 2009, Nielsen was named In-House Counsel of the Year by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

Sources

• http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/1998/states/CT/H/05/mark.nielsen.html
• http://www3.whdh.com/news/articles/local/B54795
• http://www.sots.ct.gov/registermanual/SectionVIII/SOV00cong.htm