Mark F. Kohler (born July 30, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 74th

Secretary of the State of Connecticut The secretary of the state of Connecticut is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Connecticut. (The definite article is part of the legal job title.) It is an elected position in the state government and has a term length of four ...

from July 1, 2022, when he was appointed by Governor

Ned Lamont Edward Miner Lamont Jr. ( ; born January 3, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 89th governor of Connecticut. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a Greenwich, Con ...

to fill the vacancy created by previous secretary Denise Merrill's resignation, until the end of the term in January 2023. He previously served as an associate attorney general in the Office of the Connecticut Attorney General and as a member of the Town of Woodbridge Zoning Board of Appeals.

Education

Kohler graduated from the University of St. Thomas (then known as the College of St. Thomas) with his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1982. He then earned his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in Political Science from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

in 1984, followed by his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

University of Connecticut School of Law The University of Connecticut School of Law (UConn Law) is the law school associated with the University of Connecticut and located in Hartford, Connecticut. It is the only public law school in Connecticut and one of only four in New England. As ...

in 1987.

Career

Early Career and Connecticut Attorney General's Office

Kohler was an associate attorney with the law firm Shipman & Goodwin for two years, from 1990 until 1992. Afterwards, he joined the

Connecticut Attorney General The Connecticut attorney general is the state attorney general of Connecticut. The attorney general is elected to a four-year term. According to state statute, eligibility for the office requires being "an attorney at law of at least ten years' ...

's Office, where he served for 30 years under attorneys general

Richard Blumenthal Richard Blumenthal ( ; born February 13, 1946) is an American politician, lawyer, and United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps veteran serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from ...

George Jepsen George Christian Jepsen
December 17, 1989, ''The New York Times'' (born N ...

, and

William Tong William Morten Tong (, born May 2, 1973) is an American lawyer and progressive politician who is the 25th and current Attorney General of Connecticut. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Tong attended Brown University and the University of Chicago L ...

. At different points during his tenure, Kohler served as head of the finance department, public utilities unit, and the special litigation department. He also served on the Zoning Board of Appeals in

Woodbridge, Connecticut Woodbridge is a New England town, town in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, South Central Connecticut Planning Region. The ...

for three years, between 2006 and 2009.

Secretary of the State of Connecticut

Shortly after retiring in early 2022, Kohler was appointed

by Governor

when retiring incumbent Denise Merrill resigned June 30, six months before the expiration of her term. He was sworn in the next day. He was not a candidate in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

for the office in November 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kohler, Mark 1960 births Living people 21st-century American lawyers Indiana University Bloomington alumni People from Woodbridge, Connecticut Secretaries of the state of Connecticut University of Connecticut School of Law alumni University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) alumni