David Harris (Illinois politician)

Harris was born March 26, 1948, in Reading, Pennsylvania. He graduated from St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights. Harris graduated from Georgetown University. He became an associate member of the Chicago Board of Trade during the 1970s, but ceased trading prior to 2011. After a brief period of time in Pennsylvania, Harris moved to Arlington Heights, Illinois where he and his wife reside. ==Military career==

Harris joined the military in 1970 as a military policeman. In 1971, he attended Officer Candidate School and returned to serve as a platoon leader in the 471st Military Police Company of the District of Columbia Army National Guard. From 1974 until 1980, Harris served as a member of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. In 1980, he joined the Illinois Army National Guard as an assistant correctional officer with the 33rd Military Police Battalion in Chicago. He was promoted to Staff Provost Marshal at the State Area Command in Springfield, Illinois. In 1989, he graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College. That same year, he became the Chief Historian. In 1992, he was promoted to the Commander of the 44th Support Center. In 1997, he was promoted to Section Chief of the Selective Service. Harris retired from the Illinois National Guard in 2003 and was succeeded as Adjutant General by Randal E. Thomas. Harris was inducted into the Infantry Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame at Fort Benning in 2002. Post military service Harris served in Iraq with the US Department of State as the deputy director and chief of staff of the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office. ==Political career==

Harris served on Ronald Reagan's national advance staff in the 1976 Republican primary, and presidential elections of 1980 and 1984. He was elected an alternate delegate to the 1984 Republican National Convention. In 1987, Ronald Reagan appointed Harris a member of the Intergovernmental Advisory Council on Education. In the 1982 general election, Harris ran as a Republican in the newly created 53rd district. His opponent in the general election was Democratic activist and Elk Grove Park Board commissioner Joan E. Brennan. The district was centered around Elk Grove Township. Harris defeated Brennan in the general election. Harris lost the 1992 Republican primary to Carolyn H. Krause, a former Mayor of Mount Prospect, Illinois. After his loss, he joined the Illinois Hospital & Health Systems Association as the Senior Vice President for Government Relations. In this role, he directed the association's government relations programs at both the state and federal levels. Harris defeated Walker in the heavily Republican 2010 election. After the decennial redistricting process, Harris was redistricted to the 53rd District in 2013. The 53rd house district includes parts of Arlington Heights, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Rolling Meadows, and Prospect Heights. In the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, Harris was a delegate pledged to the presidential campaign of John Kasich. He was a sponsor of Senate Bill 2861 which established the Illinois Code of Military Justice; state legislation analogous to the federal Uniform Code of Military Justice. He was succeeded by Mark Walker, who he had unseated eight years earlier. Illinois Department of Revenue In 2018, Governor-elect J. B. Pritzker announced his intention to appoint Harris the Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue. Harris subsequently assumed office in this position after being unanimously confirmed by the Illinois Senate. Harris was later reappointed to the position in 2023 at the beginning Pritzker's second term as Governor and was again unanimously confirmed by the Illinois Senate. ==References==