{{Infobox officeholder| name=O. H. "Ike" Harris|nationality=[[United States|American]]|office=[[Texas]] State Senator for District 8 ([[Dallas|Dallas County]])|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]] |term_start=1967|term_end=1995|preceded=George M. Parkhouse|succeeded=[[Florence Shapiro]]|office3=Texas State Representative for Dallas County|term_start3=1963|term_end3=1965|preceded3=Bill Jones|succeeded3=John Wright|office2=Texas Senate President Pro Tempore]]|term_start2=1973|term_end2=1973|preceded2=Oscar Mauzy|succeeded2=Max Sherman|birth_date=June 5, 1932|residence=[[Austin]], Travis County, Texas|occupation=[[Attorney]]<br />[[Lobbyist]]|religion=|spouse=|children=|alma_mater=[[University of North Texas]]<brDedman School of Law at [[Southern Methodist University]] |footnotes='''Note''':br>*On more than one occasion, Harris was voted among the "Worst Members of the Legislature" by ''Texas Monthly'' [[magazine]] during his state Senate tenure from 1967 to 1995. }}'''O. H. "Ike" Harris''' (born June 5, 1932) is an [[attorney]] and [[Lobbying|lobbyist]] in the capital city of [[Austin]], [[Texas]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://projects.publicintegrity.org/hiredguns/reg.aspx?state=TX|title=Hired Guns|publisher=projects.publicintegrity.org|accessdate=April 18, 2010}}</ref> who served from 1963 to 1965 and 1967 to 1995 as a [[Republican Party|Republican]] member from [[Dallas|Dallas County]] in both houses of the [[Texas State Legislature]]. He was elected to his single term as a [[Texas House of Representatives|state representative]] in 1962. His Senate tenure in Texas began in 1967 to 1995. In his final 1993–1995 biennial term, Harris was the dean, or senior member in tenure, among all of the state senators. Harris is particularly remembered for having authored legislation that permits parimutuel betting at [[horse]] race tracks in Texas.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://texasimpact.org/novemberspeakerbios|title=Speaker Biographies: O.H. "Ike" Harris|publisher=texasimpact.org|accessdate=April 18, 2010}}</ref> On October 10, 2009, the racing industry honored him with its JoAnn Weber Distinguished Service Award during induction ceremonies of the Texas Racing Hall of Fame held at Retama Park in Selma, Texas, near [[San Antonio]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasthoroughbred.com/images/sept09express.pdf|title=Texas Racing Commission awards 2010 racing dates|publisher=texasthoroughbred.com|accessdate=April 18, 2010}}</ref> He also worked to implement interstate banking, [[insurance]] reform, and the expansion of the University of Texas at Dallas to a four-year institution. In 1973, he was the President pro tempore of the Texas Senate in the 63rd Legislative Session.<ref name=bio/> ==Background==In 1954, Harris received his Bachelor of Science degree in [[political science]] from the University of North Texas in Denton. Upon graduation, he entered the [[United States Air Force]], where he was an instructor pilot until his honorable discharge with the rank of [[captain]] in 1957. He then entered the Dedman School of Law at [[Southern Methodist University]], at which he served as president of the law school and the student body. Harris assumed the nickname "Ike" from an older brother while he was seeking the SMU student body presidency. This may have been in acknowledgement of [[U.S. President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], a native-born Texan also referred to by that appellation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalhottubparty.blogspot.com/2007/06/since-early-70s-texas-monthly-has.html|title="It Was the Best of Times; It Was the Worst of Times", June 14, 2007|publisher=politicalhottubparty.blogspot.com|accessdate=April 18, 2010}}</ref> Harris was affiliated with Cycen Fjodr, a men's honorary society; Barristers, a legal honorary society, and he was listed among ''Who's Who Among American Colleges and Universities.''<ref name=bio/>==Legislative service==In 1962, Harris won his single two-year term in the Texas House, having succeeded the two-term [[Democratic|Democrat]] Bill Jones of Dallas. Two years later, Harris was unseated by John Wright of Grand Prairie,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legis/members/roster.cfm|title=O. H. "Ike" Harris: Legislative Reference Library of Texas|publisher=lrl.state.tx.us|accessdate=January 29, 2020}}</ref> as the Democrats swept Texas and Dallas County, then previously one of the state's more Republican-leaning areas. President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] won a huge margin nationally and in Texas over the Republican [[nominee]], [[U.S. Senator]] [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]]. Even the lone Dallas County Republican [[U.S. Representative]], Bruce Reynolds Alger (1918-2015), along with colleague [[Ed Foreman]], then of Odessa, were unseated that year. Alger had served since 1955; Foreman only for the 1963–1965 U.S. House term.<ref>Texas Secretary of State, General election returns, November 3, 1964.</ref> Harris' elevation to the state Senate occurred in a [[special election]] after the death in August 1967 of Democratic state Senator George M. Parkhouse. ''[[Texas Monthly]]'' [[magazine]] more than once named Harris among the "Top Ten Worst Legislators." In 1975, the publication called him "a playboy . . . a double zero as a legislator . . . a sad case of unapplied talent; he's perfectly capable of being an outstanding member (he's not dumb), and his colleagues like him though he doesn't care enough to try. Sits through committee meetings looking bored and restless, as though he were daydreaming at a sermon. Regards attendance at Senate sessions as a burden to be tolerated for the sake of the after-hours fringe benefits. . . . Seems to operate on the principle that if you have enough [[interest group|special interests]], eventually you'll have a majority of the people behind you."<ref name=tmonthly>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=fSwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=O.H.+%22Ike%22+Harris+of+Austin,+TX&source=bl&ots=LgNe6AWrS6&sig=dWze0ZyyfBSEHM-xQCiiFUQeyDo&hl=en&ei=xArLS4u-Lome8ASfnvzLBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CCMQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q&f=false|title=The Ten Worst:|publisher=[[Google Books]]|date=July 1975|accessdate=January 29, 2020}}</ref> In the 1975 legislation session, Harris supported legislation that delayed the time from seven to fifteen years that uncashed traveler's checks revert to the Texas state treasury instead of the coffers of the express companies. The measure cost the state approximately $150,000 per year. Harris also favored requiring citizens to pay a fee for seeking access to public records. Another Harris measure, supported by building contractors, weakened measures requiring fire escapes in new buildings.<ref name=tmonthly/> During his twenty-seven years in the Senate, Harris served for a time as chairman of the (1) State Affairs, (2) Economic Development, and (3) Jurisprudence committees. He was vice-chairman of the (1) Committee of the Whole on Redistricting, Ethics and Elections, (2) Nominations Committee, and the Sunset Advisory Commission, which recommends over a 12-year cycle the elimination of certain useless state [[bureaucracy|bureaucracies]].<ref name=bio/>As a legislator, Harris held membership in the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Texas Judicial Council, Legislative Natural Resources Board, and the Legislative BudgetBoard.<ref name=bio/>==Partisan matters== ''Texas Monthly'' found Harris more interested in social parties than his own Republican Party. ''Texas Monthly'' said that Harris "has a long history of talking like a Republican back home but voting compliantly with the Democratic Senate leadership."<ref name=tmonthly/> Harris referred most [[Republican Party|GOP]] matters to his Tarrant County colleague, Betty Andujar (1912-1997) of [[Fort Worth]].<ref name=tmonthly/> In 1976, Harris joined U.S. Senator [[John Tower]] of Texas in supporting President [[Gerald Ford]] for nomination to a full term in the first ever Texas primary in which presidential convention delegates were chosen by voters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ford.utexas.edu/library/document/diary/pdd760409.pdf|title=The Daily Diary of President Gerald R. Ford, April 9, 1976|publisher=ford.utexas.edu|accessdate=April 18, 2010}}</ref> Ford, however, was defeated 2-1 in the primary<ref>Texas Secretary of State, Presidential primary election returns, May 1, 1976.</ref> by a coalition supporting [[Ronald W. Reagan]], headed by cochairmen [[Ernest Angelo]] of [[Midland]], [[Ray Barnhart]] of Pasadena in Harris County, and [[Barbara Staff]] of Dallas, as well as Betty Andujar. Ford ultimately still defeated Reagan at the 1976 [[Republican National Convention]] held at the Kemper Arena in [[Kansas City]], [[Missouri]].In his last Senate election in 1992, Harris had no Democratic opponent and polled 83 percent of the vote against the nominee of the [[Libertarian Party.<ref>Texas Secretary of State, General election returns, November 1992</ref> He did not run again in 1994.==Lawyer and lobbyist==In his legal and lobbying work, Harris represents clients before the legislature. His expertise is in taxation, economic and industrial development, [[oil]] and [[natural gas]], education, and private property interests.<ref name=bio/> ==References=={{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, O. H. "Ike"}}[[Category:Texas]][[Category:Attorneys]][[Categoryi:Politicians]][[Category:State Senators]][[Category:Republicans]][[Category:Moderate Republicans]][[Category:United States Air Force]]n̪̍