Claude Harris Jr.

Claude Harris Jr. (June 29, 1940 – October 2, 1994) was an American politician.

Claude Harris Jr.
United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama
In office
October 4, 1993 – October 2, 1994
PresidentBill Clinton
Preceded byJack Selden
Succeeded byDoug Jones
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Alabama's 7th district
In office
January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1993
Preceded byRichard Shelby
Succeeded byEarl Hilliard
Personal details
Born(1940-06-29)June 29, 1940
Bessemer, Alabama, U.S.
DiedOctober 2, 1994(1994-10-02) (aged 54)
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseBarbara
EducationUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham (BS)
University of Alabama School of Law (JD)

A Democrat from Alabama, he served in the United States House of Representatives from 1987 until 1993. He was succeeded in the House by Earl F. Hilliard.[1]

Biography

Born in Bessemer, Alabama, Harris earned his B.S. at the University of Alabama in 1962, graduated from University of Alabama Law School in 1965 and served in the Alabama Army National Guard. He was an assistant district attorney in Tuscaloosa County until 1977 when he took seat as a state circuit judge. He stepped down from the bench in 1985 to run for Congress to succeed Richard Shelby, who ran for the United States Senate. Harris was elected three times in 1986, 1988, and 1990. He declined to run for reelection in 1992 after the legislature reconfigured his district into a majority-minority district in compliance with provisions in the Voting Rights Act, having little chance of being elected in the new district.

After leaving Congress, Harris was appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama under the new Clinton administration in 1993. Harris died of lung cancer on October 2, 1994, in Birmingham, Alabama.[2]

He was married to Barbara Harris; they had two sons.

References
  1. Political profile
  2. "Claude Harris, 54, Ex-Congressman". The New York Times. 3 October 1994.


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