Mary Jane Mulligan is a first time candidate for NH State Representative for Hanover and Lyme. Mary Jane is a non-practicing attorney who is currently working as a substitute teacher in the Lyme, Hanover, Norwich and Dresden school districts. Mary Jane has lived in Hanover for almost 20 years. Mary Jane, her husband and daughter, moved to Hanover from Columbia, Maryland, where Mary Jane practiced law at the Legal Aid Bureau of Baltimore as a Child Advocate for abused and neglected children. Mary Jane’s husband, Ralph Nichols, was an Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Dartmouth College. Ralph is recently deceased. Mary Jane’s daughter, Kelsey Nichols, started in the Hanover school system in the first grade and is a Hanover High School graduate. Kelsey is currently living in Stamford, CT.
As a Staff Attorney in the Child Advocacy Unit at the Legal Aid Bureau of Baltimore City, Mary Jane represented minors in Child In Need of Assistance (CINA) cases. This was an intense and adversarial practice, conducting approximately 500 court cases per year, with daily court appearances before Judges and Masters in the Baltimore City Circuit Court, Juvenile Division. Mary Jane received her Juris Doctorate at the University of Baltimore School of Law. Mary Jane was admitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, and the Maryland Court of Appeals. Mary Jane interned at the Women’s Legal Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. as a Public Policy Law Clerk. She worked on the Family Medical Leave Act and Title IX gender discrimination in intercollegiate scholarship athletic programs. Mary Jane was also a Guardian ad Litem with the Court Appointed Special Advocates of NH (CASA) for abused and neglected children in the NH court system.
Mary Jane received a Bachelor of Science in Biology at San Francisco State University. She worked as a Microbiology Lab Technician at the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) in Rockville, MD. As an individual research project, while a student at SF State University, Mary Jane designed and implemented an experiment to study the environmental impact of human bacteria in the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean
Mary Jane was involved in her daughter’s school and extra-curricular activities. Mary Jane was proud to serve as Room Parent during her daughter’s elementary years. She taught Religious Education classes for Youth at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Upper Valley (UUCUV), and served as Board President for the Skating Club at Dartmouth (SCAD). Mary Jane was a Swift Water Brownie and Girl Scout Leader. She was involved as a parent volunteer with the Hanover High School Varsity Crew. Mary Jane was also involved with chair/co-chairing of various elementary and high school graduation celebrations, and school sponsored Holiday parties.
Mary Jane’s policy priorities include:
- Human equality for all
- Working to protect children’s and families’ rights
- Implementing a comprehensive strategy to address the opioid epidemic
- Affordable educational opportunities from preschool through college
- Affordable and easily accessible healthcare
- Funding for Planned Parenthood
- Protecting healthcare and reproductive rights for women
- Equal pay for equal work
- Livable wages and benefits
- Protecting NH’s natural environment and cultural heritage