Elihu Harris

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elihu Mason Harris is a U.S. Democratic Party politician. He gained national attention by being the first major party politician to lose a state legislative race to a Green Party candidate, when he lost a race for California State Assembly to Audie Bock in 1999.[1]

Harris received a Master of Public Policy from University of California, Berkeley in 1969 and law degree from UC Davis School of Law in 1975.[2]

He had occupied the office of Mayor of Oakland from 1991 until 1999. He has also served as a California Uniform Law Commissioner since 1981.[3]

In the '99 election, Harris sent targeted mailers to households in selected precincts, mostly African American, urging voters to vote for him and receive a fried chicken meal if they presented a voting stub at selected supermarkets. There was voter backlash because of the perception of vote buying and had a subtext of racism. [4]

Since 2004, Harris has been Chancellor of Peralta Community College District. He had been interim chancellor from 2003 until receiving the post on a permanent basis.[5]