Senator Don Harmon Contact information

Don Harmon, born on November 26, 1966, is an American attorney and a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate. He has been representing the 39th District since 2003. His district includes Chicago’s Austin neighborhood and the suburbs of Oak Park, Addison, Bensenville, Elmwood Park, Franklin Park, Melrose Park, Northlake, River Grove, Rosemont, Schiller Park, and Stone Park.

Harmon was born and raised in Oak Park where he attended St. Giles Grade School. He graduated from St. Ignatius College Prep on Chicago’s West Side; Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois and the University of Chicago (J.D. and M.B.A.). After law school, Harmon served in Springfield on the House legal staff. Harmon was a partner at the Chicago-based law firm Burke, Burns & Pinelli until he stepped down from the firm in January 2020.

In August 2000, Don Harmon was nominated by members of the Democratic Party of Oak Park to fulfill the term of former Illinois Senate President Phil Rock as Oak Park Democratic Committeeman. He was then elected to his first full term as Committeeman in 2002 and has since been re-elected in 2006 and 2010. In 2010, Harmon was elected to serve as the Suburban Vice-Chair of the Democratic Party of Cook County.

In January 2009, incoming Illinois Senate President John Cullerton appointed Harmon the State Senate’s Assistant Majority Leader. Harmon was appointed Illinois Senate President Pro Tempore in 2011. In January 2019, Harmon lost that title when Cullerton retired the President Pro Tempore leadership position. Harmon was later elected to succeed Cullerton as President of the Illinois Senate on January 19, 2020.

Harmon supports gun control and is a supporter of a bill to ban assault weapons in 2023. First elected in the fall of 2002, Harmon served alongside then-State Senator and now former U.S. President Barack Obama. In the State Senate, Harmon voted for a bill that allows government to charge citizens for Freedom of Information Act requests. Critics of the bill argued it weakens the public’s ability to receive information from the government. The bill passed with dissenting votes from Democrats and Republicans. Harmon introduced legislation to legalize sports betting in Illinois. The bill “would allow wagering on professional and collegiate sports,” according to one report.