David Eldridge Harrison (June 19, 1933 - December 1, 2019) was a former American politician, lobbyist, and judge who served as a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

and as Chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.

Political career

Harrison was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1963 to 1971, representing the 16th Essex District from 1963 to 1965 and the 1st Essex District from 1965 to 1971. On December 7, 1968, Harrison was unanimously elected Chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party. He stepped down as Chairman in May 1971 after an attempt to solve the committee's heavy debt. Following his departure from the House, Harrison worked as a lobbyist on

Beacon Hill Beacon Hill may refer to: Places Canada * Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, a neighbourhood * Beacon Hill Park, a park in Victoria, British Columbia * Beacon Hill, Saskatchewan * Beacon Hill, Montreal, a neighbourhood in Beaconsfield, Quebec United ...

. In 1972 he was the highest paid lobbyist at the

Massachusetts State House The Massachusetts State House, also known as the Massachusetts Statehouse or the New State House, is the List of state capitols in the United States, state capitol and seat of government for the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, lo ...

. During the

1972 United States Presidential Election The 1972 United States presidential election was the 47th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon defeated Democratic Senator George McGovern of South Dakota. Un ...

, Harrison served as

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 pres ...

's New England Campaign Coordinator.

Judicial career

Harrison was sworn in as a district court judge on July 27, 1988. He served in the Lowell District Court and later was the First Justice of the Gloucester District Court.

Resignation

Harrison resigned from the bench in 2006 after the Office of Bar Counsel filed a petition for discipline against him. The petition alleged that Harrison had interfered with the Commission on Judicial Conduct's inquiry of him and that he had assisted a Commission member and another judge in violating the laws protecting the confidentiality of the Commission's proceedings. In 1999, the Commission on Judicial Conduct investigated Harrison's conduct during a zoning board hearing in

Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 U.S. Census. An important center of the fishing industry and a ...

. During the investigation, Harrison discussed the Commission's investigation of him with Commission member Gerald Cook and he received and read a copy of the Commission's confidential memorandum. On February 13, 2006, the Board of Bar Overseers voted to recommend that Harrison's resignation be accepted as a disciplinary sanction. On March 1, 2006, the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County entered judgment accepting the respondent's affidavit of resignation as a disciplinary sanction. A month later, the Supreme Judicial Court ordered that Harrison's name be "stricken from the Roll of Attorneys".

Personal life

Harrison is a graduate of Gloucester High School, Tufts College, and

Portia Law School New England Law , Boston (formerly New England School of Law) is a private law school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded as Portia School of Law in 1908 and is located in downtown Boston near the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Fina ...

. In 1970 he married Michelle Holovak, the daughter of former

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

and

Boston Patriots Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

head coach Mike Holovak. Outside politics Harrison worked in insurance and real estate sales and also as a high school football and lacrosse referee. Harrison died on December 1, 2019, in Danvers, Massachusetts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, David E. 1933 births American lobbyists Disbarred Massachusetts lawyers Massachusetts Democratic Party chairs Massachusetts District Court judges Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives New England Law Boston alumni People from Gloucester, Massachusetts Tufts University alumni 2019 deaths