Gerry Connolly

Gerald Edward Connolly (March 30, 1950 – May 21, 2025) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 11th congressional district from 2009 until his death in 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected in 2008 to replace retiring Republican incumbent Tom Davis, who did not seek re-election and later resigned shortly after the election. The 11th district is situated in the suburbs of Northern Virginia. It is anchored in the affluent Fairfax County, where Connolly served on the county's board of supervisors before his election to Congress, and also includes the entirety of Fairfax City.

In April 2025, Connolly announced that he would not seek re-election in 2026 citing health concerns. He died in office on May 21, 2025, following a battle with esophageal cancer.

Connolly was born in Boston on March 30, 1950, the son of Mary Therese (née O'Kane), a nurse, and Edward R. Connolly, an insurance salesman. He graduated from Maryknoll Junior Seminary (nicknamed Venard) High School in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, in 1968. In 1971, he graduated from Maryknoll College in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, with a Bachelor of Arts in literature, and completed a Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School in 1979.

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 as Providence District Supervisor for nine years, first elected in 1995.

Connolly's career as a public official began on March 28, 1995, when he won a special election for the Providence District seat on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, defeating Republican Jeannemarie A. Devolites. A rematch against Devolites in November of that same year saw Connolly reelected to a full four-year term on the board. Connolly ran unopposed for reelection in November 1999. He was elected Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2003 and reelected in 2007.

As chairman of the ten-member board, Connolly balanced a $4.5 billion budget and managed a county that would be the nation's 13th-largest city, 12th-largest school district, and sixth-largest office market. He served as chairman of the county's Legislative Committee and vice-chair of the Economic Advisory Committee. Connolly also served as chairman of the board of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC), chairman of the Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC), and was chairman of the board of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG). He also represented Fairfax County on the board of the Virginia Association of Counties (VaCo), where he also served as president.

Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (H.R. 1232; 113th Congress) As the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Connolly co-sponsored this bill with Darrell Issa. It is a proposed bill that would make changes and reforms to the current framework that manages how the federal government buys new technology. One of the requirements would be that the government develop a streamlined plan for its acquisitions. The bill would increase the power of existing chief information officers (CIO) within federal agencies so that they could be more effective. Each agency would also be reduced to having only one CIO in the agency, who is then responsible for the success and failure of all IT projects in that agency. The bill would also require the federal government to make use of private sector best practices. The bill is intended to reduce IT procurement related waste. Explaining the bill, Connolly said that "there are more than 250 identified CIOs in the federal government, yet none possess the necessary authority to effectively manage IT investments" which has "resulted in duplicative and wasteful IT spending." It passed the House in a voice vote on February 25, 2014.