Bruce A. Harris is an American lawyer and politician from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, he previously served as Mayor of Chatham Borough, New Jersey from January 2012 to December 2019. Prior to that, he served on the Chatham Borough Council from 2004 to 2012. Since leaving office, Harris was appointed to the

New Jersey State Planning Commission The New Jersey State Planning Commission is responsible for oversight of planning issues affecting the U.S. state of New Jersey. The Commission consists of 17 members representing State government, local government and the public. Local government ...

, which he has been a member of since February 2020.

Biography

Harris attended

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

, graduating magna cum laude. He earned an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from the

Boston University Graduate School of Management The Questrom School of Business (formerly, the Boston University School of Management) is the business school at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1913 as the College of Business Administration, the school offe ...

and a JD from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

. After eight years on the Chatham Borough Council, Harris ran for mayor of Chatham Borough in November 2011, defeating Democratic incumbent Nelson Vaughan. A Republican, Harris took office as mayor in January 2012. On January 23, 2012, Governor

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in Ne ...

nominated Harris to an open seat on the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging the ...

. His nomination was rejected on May 31, 2012, by the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

in a 7–6 vote that was largely along party lines. His lack of courtroom experience was cited by the opposition. Harris is

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

. If his nomination had been confirmed, he would have been the first openly gay New Jersey Supreme Court justice. Harris served as general counsel of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority from 2012 to 2018. In April 2019, Harris announced that he would not seek re-election as mayor of Chatham Borough. He was replaced by Democrat Thaddeus "Thad" Kobylarz, who had been on the borough council before running for mayor. In February 2020, Democratic Governor

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American financier, diplomat, and politician serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since January 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States ambassador to Germa ...

appointed the Republican Harris to the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Bruce 1951 births Living people Mayors of places in New Jersey American gay politicians LGBT mayors of places in the United States LGBT people from New Jersey African-American LGBT people New Jersey lawyers Yale Law School alumni People from Chatham Borough, New Jersey Amherst College alumni Boston University School of Management alumni African-American mayors in New Jersey New Jersey Republicans 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 21st-century American LGBT people