Damon Connolly

Damon Connolly’s public career has included service on the San Rafael City Council, the Marin County Board of Supervisors and the California State Assembly. He served on the City Council from 2007 to 2014 and on the Board of Supervisors from 2015 to 2022 before taking his Assembly seat on December 5, 2022. An attorney, he worked at the California Department of Justice from 1993 to 2007. Connolly announced his Assembly candidacy in October 2021, while incumbent Marc Levine chose to run for California Insurance Commissioner. Connolly finished first in a five-candidate primary and won the general election with 51.8% of the vote.

BACKGROUND AND THE LAW

Connolly was born on June 19, 1963, and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, earning a bachelor’s degree in economics, and then received his law degree from the UC Berkeley School of Law.

From 1989 to 1993, Connolly worked as an associate at Thelen LLP in San Francisco. He then moved to the California Department of Justice. Connolly served as a deputy attorney general from 1993 to 1998 and as a supervising deputy attorney general from 1998 to 2007.

In 2007 and 2008, he was a partner at Girard Gibbs LLP. His legal and political careers overlapped during those years: Connolly began serving on the San Rafael City Council in 2007.

FROM SAN RAFAEL TO THE ASSEMBLY

Connolly served on the San Rafael City Council from 2007 to 2014. In 2015, he began serving on the Marin County Board of Supervisors, remaining there through 2022.

He announced his candidacy for the 12th Assembly District in October 2021. Levine, the incumbent, chose to run for California Insurance Commissioner. In June 2022, Connolly finished first in a field of five candidates in the jungle primary. He then secured 51.8% of the vote in the general election and assumed office on December 5, 2022.

His documented progression through elected office was from the San Rafael City Council to the Marin County Board of Supervisors and then to the California State Assembly.

THE POLICY SIGNATURE

Connolly is a member of the California Legislative Progressive Caucus. The available record identifies that affiliation but does not identify a signature bill, committee assignment, budget action, defining vote or particular policy cause as the focus of his Assembly work.

His public-service record includes City Council service from 2007 to 2014, Board of Supervisors service from 2015 to 2022 and Assembly service beginning in December 2022. His earlier legal work included service at the California Department of Justice as a deputy attorney general and then as a supervising deputy attorney general.