Brian Edward Harrison (born May 19, 1982) is an American government official who served as chief of staff of the

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

(HHS). He ran for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

in the 2021 special election for

Texas's 6th congressional district Texas's 6th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives is in an area that includes Ellis and Navarro counties to the south and southeast of the Dallas/Fort Worth area plus the southeast corner of Tarrant County. As of ...

, gaining 10.8% of the vote and placing fourth in a field of 23 candidates. He won the special election race for the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

District 10 on September 28, 2021.Svitek, Patrick
Brian Harrison wins Texas House seat after beating fellow Republican John Wray, who used to hold the seat
''

Texas Tribune ''The Texas Tribune'' is a news website headquartered in Austin, Texas. It aims to promote civic engagement through original, explanatory journalism and public events. Its website and content in various delivery platforms serve as an alternativ ...

'', September 28, 2021.

Education

Harrison earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

Career

From 2005 to 2009, Harrison held positions at the

Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is " ...

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that administers Social Security (United ...

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

, and

Office of the Vice President of the United States The Office of the Vice President includes personnel who directly support or advise the vice president of the United States. The office is headed by the chief of staff to the vice president of the United States, currently Lorraine Voles. The off ...

during the

Presidency of George W. Bush George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic i ...

. After leaving government service in 2009, he was the director of healthcare practice at the

DCI Group DCI Group is an American public relations, lobbying and business consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. The company was founded in 1996 as a consulting firm, and has since expanded its practice to become a public affairs company offering a ra ...

, a public affairs consulting group. In 2011, he was a delegate at the annual American-German Young Leaders Conference organized by the American Council on Germany. Harrison then worked at his father's homebuilding business, Harrison Homes. From 2012 to 2018 he owned and operated a

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, dog-breeding business called Dallas Labradoodles. During the

Presidency of Donald Trump Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...

, Harrison was appointed deputy chief of staff in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and promoted to chief of staff when his predecessor departed in June 2019. Harrison coordinated the HHS early response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

before those responsibilities were transferred to

Robert Kadlec Robert Peter Kadlec is an American physician and career officer in the United States Air Force who served as Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services (Preparedness and Response) from August 2017 until January 2021. Early life Kadlec gra ...

in February 2020. In February 2021, Harrison was reported to be exploring running for the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

in after the death of incumbent Ron Wright. On March 1, 2021, Harrison officially declared his candidacy. Harrison came in fourth place in the special election with 10.81% of the vote. Two months later on August 9, 2021, Harrison announced his candidacy for the

District 10

to replace

Jake Ellzey John Kevin "Jake" Ellzey Sr. (born January 24, 1970) is an American politician and former military officer serving as the U.S. representative for Texas's 6th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a me ...

, who vacated the district seat after winning the Texas's 6th congressional district special election, the one Brian ran for back in May. The special election was held on August 31, 2021, and Harrison placed first with 41 percent of the vote with 4,613 votes and John Wray placed second with 36 percent of the vote with 4,031 votes. Harrison and Wray would later face each other in a runoff election. The runoff was held on September 28, 2021, and Harrison defeated Wray 55.38% to 44.62%. Harrison supports a ban on Democrats being given committee chairmanships as long as the Republicans hold the majority of seats in the Texas House. On May 27, 2023, Harrison voted no to impeach

Ken Paxton Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the Attorney General of Texas since January 2015. Paxton has described himself as a Tea Party conservative. Paxton was re-elected to a th ...

Electoral history

Results

Personal life

Harrison was married to Tara Napier in 2011. She worked at the White House during the Bush administration in 2007 and at the

Office of the Secretary of Defense The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is a headquarters-level staff of the United States Department of Defense. It is the principal civilian staff element of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and it assists the Secretary in carrying out aut ...

from 2005 to 2011 before being hired by BP as communications manager in December 2011. She became head of corporate affairs in 2019. Harrison and Napier have four children. Harrison's father, Ed Harrison, ran for

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

Texas's 24th congressional district Texas' 24th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives covers much of the suburban area in between Fort Worth and Dallas in the state of Texas and centers along the Dallas– Tarrant county line. The district has abou ...

in 1994 and 1996 against Democrat

Martin Frost Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

and for state Senate against Republican Kip Averitt in 2002, losing all three.Our Campaigns: Harrison, Ed
/ref>

References