User:Cardinal91/David Harris (Illinois Politician)

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David Harris is a retired National Guard Major General and politician from Arlington Heights, IL. A Republican, he represented the 56th district in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1983 to 1992. He was defeated for re-election in a post-redistricting primary in 1992 by Rep. Carolyn H. Krause (R), then the mayor of Mt. Prospect.

David Harris is currently running for election to the 66th district seat held by incumbent Rep. Mark L. Walker (D).

Political Career
Harris served in the Illinois State House of Representatives from 1983 to 1992.

1992 was a re-districting year in which the political boundaries had been redrawn to a new map. Political analysts and other candidates had anticipated that Harris would run for Senate during the 1992 election cycle but he chose instead to run for re-election to the State House. Harris lost the 1992 Republican primary by 1500 votes to then-Mayor of Mt. Prospect, Carolyn Krause.

Political analyst Russ Stewart has described Harris as a "social conservative" and also indicates that there was lingering animosity between the 1992 primary campaign opponents Harris and Krause as recently as 2007.

Military Career
Harris enlisted in the military in 1970. He earned his commission through Officer Candidate School, U.S. Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, GA. Harris retired from the military after 33 years and after achieving the rank of Major General.

In 1999, Illinois Gov. George Ryan appointed Harris as Illinois Adjutant General, overseeing the Illinois National Guard. His service as Adjutant General overlapped the election of Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Blagojevich retained Harris in that role. Harris served as Adjutant General from 1999 to 2003.