McKee Appoints Connors as Interim Housing Secretary
GoLocalProv News Team
McKee Appoints Connors as Interim Housing Secretary
Connors, the Chief-of-Staff at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS), will be filling in for the position, following former Housing Secretary Stefan Pryor’s departure in June.
“While the State conducts a search for a permanent Secretary of Housing, Governor McKee is appointing Daniel Connors, Chief of Staff at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS), to provide temporary leadership as interim secretary. With more than 15 years of experience across Rhode Island State government, Mr. Connors is well positioned to provide transitional support during this time. He is not being considered for the permanent position and will return to his role at EOHHS at the end of this process,” said McKee spokesperson Andrea Palagi.
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Connors was first elected — at age 20 — to the Rhode Island Senate in 1996 and served until January of 2011. In 2008, he was elected by his colleagues to serve as Senate Majority Leader.
Since then, he has had roles in the private sector, including at Advocacy Solutions and Duffy and Sweeney, and in the public sector, serving as Senior Adviser to reformer Governor Gina Raimondo.
He resigned from his position with Raimondo in 2020 following a DUI; McKee hired him at EOHHS in April 2023.