By Rachel Hinton, Chicago Sun Times
Hailed as a “passionate advocate for what’s fair and just,” Illinois House Majority Leader Greg Harris on Monday announced he will not seek reelection, capping a 15-year legislative career that saw him rise to the second most powerful position in the state House.
The North Side Democrat’s nearly three years as majority leader in the House under former Speaker Michael Madigan and current Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch made Harris the first openly gay member of the legislative leadership team. Harris is also HIV positive.
As for whether he’s retiring from politics for good, Harris said he’s taking things “one day at a time” and hasn’t thought beyond making the announcement about not seeking another term.
“I think we all think about other things you can do with your life beyond politics,” Harris told the Sun-Times. “There are certainly things I’d like to pursue personally, but largely it was thinking about have I done the things that, in my mind, I wanted to get done when I came into this office, and I think, yeah I have.”
Asked about his plans after this term, the majority leader said “we’ll see — I don’t have a plan at this point.”
Harris has served in the House since 2006 representing a North Side district that includes all or parts of Uptown, Ravenswood, Lincoln Square North Center, West Ridge and Bowmanville.
He said he thought he’d spent enough time in the House and wanted to allow time for others interested in succeeding him to start working on their plans and circulating petitions for the role in January.
“It’s something that we all think about every few years when it’s time to make a decision about going back out and passing petitions and, for me, this will be 16 years in the office, and that seemed like a good amount of time,” Harris told the Sun-Times.
In a statement announcing his decision, Harris said he took office “committed to making change” and offered improving the lives of LGBTQ people, supporting the state’s immigrant communities and fighting “for those who for so long have been ignored” as his main focal points.
Harris pointed to his chief sponsorship of legislation that legalized same-sex marriage throughout the state as one of the moments he’s proudest of in his tenure. That law took effect in 2014.
Other highlights include sponsoring legislation that allows transgender Illinoisans to correct their birth certificates as well as other bills focused on the LGBTQ community, trying to reduce drug prices and other legislation targeting disparities in health care.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a tweeted statement state residents would be “hard pressed to find a recent Illinois legislative achievement that Leader Greg Harris didn’t help shape.”
“His service defines what it means to fight for all Illinoisans,” the governor said.
Welch said Harris embodies “public service and throughout his fifteen-year career, he has been a passionate advocate for what’s fair and just.
“His command of a wide range of public policy issues, particularly Medicaid and our state budget, has been such a vital asset to the entire state,” the House speaker said in a statement.
“Greg led the way to deliver marriage equality, protected social service programs during the budget impasse and helped lower medical costs for everyday families. As a values-oriented leader and as the first openly gay majority leader, Greg has given a voice to so many who have continuously felt left out of state government.”