Greg Harris (Illinois)

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Gregory S. Harris (born 5 June, [1955]]) is an American politician from Illinois. A Democrat, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in November 2006, having been selected by the 13th District's Democratic Ward Committeemen to replace Larry McKeon as the party's nominee on the November ballot^[1]. No Republican filed for the District 13 seat in downtown Chicago so he was elected unopposed^[2].

McKeon, who had held the seat for five terms, announced his intention to retire from the legislature in July 2006. He had, though, already been re-elected unopposed and it fell to the local Democratic committeemen to select his successor on the ballot. Harris, like McKeon, is both openly gay and HIV-positive^[1].

At the time of his selection, Harris had been chief of staff to Chicago’s 48th Ward Alderman Mary Ann Smith for 14 years. An alumnus of the University of Colorado, he had previously worked for social service agencies^[1].