Napoleon Harris

Democratic Party

Candidate, Illinois State Senate District 15

Illinois State Senate District 15

Tenure

2013 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

13

Predecessor:James Meeks (D)

Compensation

Base salary

$93,712/year

Per diem

$178/day

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Next election

March 17, 2026

Education

High school

Thorton Township High School, 1997

Bachelor's

Northwestern University

Personal

Religion

Christian: Baptist

Profession

Owner/Operator of two Beggars Pizza stores

Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

Official X

Official Instagram

Campaign Facebook

Personal website

Personal Facebook

Personal X

Personal LinkedIn

Napoleon Harris (Democratic Party) is a member of theIllinois State Senate, representingDistrict 15. He assumed office in 2013. His current term ends on January 13, 2027.

Harris (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to theIllinois State Senate to representDistrict 15. He is on the ballot in the Democratic primary onMarch 17, 2026.^[source]

Biography

Harris' professional experience includes playing as a linebacker in the NFL from 2002 to 2009 and owning and operating two Beggars Pizza stores.^[1]

He was identified as one of 13 people who played in at least one Super Bowl before running for elected office or serving in government.Click here for more information.

Committee assignments

2025-2026

Harris was assigned to the following committees:

• Energy and Public Utilities Committee
• Senate Executive Committee
• Senate Insurance Committee
• Local Government Committee
• Pensions Committee,Vice-Chair
• Administrative Rules Committee

2023-2024

Harris was assigned to the following committees:

• Appropriations Committee
• Commerce Committee,Vice Chair
• Energy and Public Utilities Committee
• Senate Executive Committee
• Behavioral and Mental Health
• Senate Insurance Committee,Chair
• Pensions Committee

2021-2022

Harris was assigned to the following committees:

• Appropriations Committee
• Commerce Committee,Vice-Chair
• Energy and Public Utilities Committee
• Senate Executive Committee
• Senate Health and Human Services Committee
• Senate Insurance Committee,Chair
• Pensions Committee

2019-2020

Harris was assigned to the following committees:

• Commerce and Economic Development Committee
• Committee of the Whole
• Senate Executive Committee
• Senate Health and Human Services Committee
• Senate Insurance Committee,Chair
• Telecommunications & InfoTechnology Committee,Vice chair

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Harris served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Harris served on the following committees:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2026

See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on March 17, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 15

IncumbentNapoleon Harris (D) is running in the Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 15 on March 17, 2026.

		Candidate
		Napoleon Harris

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 15

Kenneth Henderson (R) is running in the Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 15 on March 17, 2026.

		Candidate
		Kenneth Henderson (Write-in)

---

	There are noincumbents in this race.
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Endorsements

2022

See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Illinois State Senate District 15

IncumbentNapoleon Harris won election in the general election for Illinois State Senate District 15 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Napoleon Harris (D)	100.0	51,700

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 51,700
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Eric Wallace (R)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 15

IncumbentNapoleon Harris advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 15 on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Napoleon Harris	100.0	19,480

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 19,480
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also:Illinois State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Illinois State Senate District 15

IncumbentNapoleon Harris won election in the general election for Illinois State Senate District 15 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Napoleon Harris (D)	100.0	59,332

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 59,332
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 15

IncumbentNapoleon Harris advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 15 on March 20, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Napoleon Harris	100.0	27,322

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 27,322
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Terry Brown (D)

2016

See also:United States Senate election in Illinois, 2016

The race forIllinois' U.S. Senate seat was one of nine competitive battleground races in 2016. U.S. Rep.Tammy Duckworth (D) defeated incumbentMark Kirk (R)—who was seeking re-election to his second term—Kenton McMillen (L), andScott Summers (G) in the general election on November 8, 2016.

In her victory speech, Duckworth said, “Tonight, we showed a campaign that respects voters and is focused on practical solutions rather than shopworn slogans can be successful. We showed that a relentless focus on rebuilding Illinois’ middle class and respecting hard worth rather than wealth can be successful, too.”^[2]

During his concession speech, Kirk said, "What unites us as Americans is much stronger than what divides us." Kirk also invited Duckworth to have a beer with him as a peace offering. He said, “This beer summit with [sic] show kids across Illinois that opponents can peacfully [sic] bury the hatchet.”^[2][3]

Kirk's seat was vulnerable in 2016 due to Illinois' tendency to vote overwhelmingly for Democrats during presidential election cycles. Kirk faced significant opposition from national Democrats who targeted Illinois as an essential seat needed to regain the majority in the U.S. Senate. Democrats picked up two seats in Election Day, but they fell short of the five seats that they needed to take control of the Senate.^[4]

U.S. Senate, Illinois General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tammy Duckworth	54.9%	3,012,940
	Republican	Mark KirkIncumbent	39.8%	2,184,692
	Libertarian	Kenton McMillen	3.2%	175,988
	Green	Scott Summers	2.1%	117,619
	N/A	Write-in	0%	639
Total Votes				5,491,878
Source:Illinois State Board of Elections

U.S. Senate, Illinois Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Mark KirkIncumbent	70.6%	931,619
James Marter	29.4%	388,571
Total Votes		1,320,190
Source:Illinois State Board of Elections

U.S. Senate, Illinois Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Tammy Duckworth	64.4%	1,220,128
Andrea Zopp	24%	455,729
Napoleon Harris	11.6%	219,286
Total Votes		1,895,143
Source:Illinois State Board of Elections

2014

See also:Illinois State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for theIllinois State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on March 18, 2014. The general election was held onNovember 4, 2014. Thesignature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was December 2, 2013. IncumbentNapoleon Harris was set to faceVictor Jonathan in the Democratic primary, but Jonathan withdrew from the race on December 30, 2013, leaving Harris unopposed. Harris was unchallenged in the general election.^[5][6][7]

Endorsements

In 2014, Harris' endorsements included the following:^[8]

• The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)

2013

See also:Illinois' 2nd Congressional District special election, 2013

Harris sought election to the U.S. House inIllinois' 2nd Congressional District special election in 2013. The election was held to replaceJesse Jackson, Jr..

On January 20, 2013, he announced that he was withdrawing from the race and giving his support toRobin Kelly.^[9]

2012

See also:Illinois State Senate elections, 2012

Harris won election in the2012 election forIllinois State Senate District 15. Harris defeatedJoseph Letke, Jr.,Donna Miller andPatricia Mahon in the Democratic primary on March 20, 2012, and was unopposed in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012. IncumbentJames Meeks (D) did not for re-election.^[10][11][12]

Illinois State Senate, District 15, General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Napoleon Harris	100%	73,762
Total Votes				73,762

Illinois State Senate, District 15 Democratic Primary, 2012

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Patricia Mahon	21.1%	4,928
Donna Miller	35.2%	8,209
Napoleon Harris	43.6%	10,172
Total Votes		23,309

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Napoleon Harris has not yet completedBallotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.Send a message to Napoleon Harris asking him to fill out the survey. If you are Napoleon Harris,click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?

Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for.  More than 25,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the surveyhere.

You can ask Napoleon Harris to fill out this survey by using the button below or emailing napoleonharris@beggarspizza.com.

2022

Napoleon Harris did not completeBallotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2012

Harris' campaign website listed the following issues:^[13]

• Education

Excerpt: "Currently, 77% of education funding comes from local sources—mainly property taxes. Because of our over-reliance on property taxes affluent communities can provide quality education but most poor communities cannot."

• Job Creation & Economic Development

Excerpt: "Illinois Main Street is an economic development program that revitalizes historic and business districts. There are nearly 80 of these programs across the state but only one in the Southland. "

• Crime Prevention

Excerpt: "Law enforcement alone cannot prevent crime, and officials depend on residents to be the eyes and ears of the neighborhood."

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.

Polls

2013

Scorecards

See also:State legislative scorecards andState legislative scorecards in Illinois

Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Illinois scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

Personal

Note: Pleasecontact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Harris and his wife, Nicole, have two children. Harris is a member of the board of directors of the House of James Shelter. He is also founder of the Napoleon Harris Foundation and a volunteer for Restoration Ministries.^[1][16]

See also

2026 Elections

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Newsletters

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External links

Footnotes

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