Gerry Connolly

Gerald Edward Connolly (born March 30, 1950) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 11th congressional district, first elected in 2008. The district is anchored in Fairfax County, an affluent suburban county west of Washington, D.C. It includes all of Fairfax City and part of Prince William County. Connolly is a member of the Democratic Party. Early life Connolly graduated from Maryknoll College in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, with a B.A. in literature in 1971, and completed a Master of Public Administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in 1979. Early career Connolly worked from 1979 to 1989 with the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, where he managed committee oversight of international economic issues, international narcotics control, and United Nations and Middle East policies, and published reports on U.S. policy in El Salvador, Central America, Israel, and the Persian Gulf region. From 1989 to 1997, he was Vice President of the Washington Office of SRI International. He was also Director of Community Relations for SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation). In local politics, Connolly served on the Fairfax Government Reorganization Commission from 1992 to 1993. In 1995, he was elected Providence District Supervisor, serving for nine years.