Andy Harris (politician)

Harris defeated incumbent Republican Wayne Gilchrest and State Senator E.J. Pipkin in the Republican primary for Maryland's 1st congressional district.[13] Harris ran to the right of Gilchrest, one of the moderate Republicans in the House. He explained that he was upset with Gilchrest's decision to support a Democrat-sponsored bill setting a timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq and suspected that many of his constituents also felt that way. He was endorsed by the Club for Growth,[14] which raised nearly $250,000 for him,[15] and by former governor Bob Ehrlich,[16] seven of 10 state senators who represent parts of the district, and House Minority Leader Anthony O'Donnell.[17] His general election opponent Frank Kratovil criticized the Club for Growth's policies, and Harris for having its support.[18] Gilchrest endorsed Kratovil for the general election.[19]

On election night, Kratovil led Harris by 915 votes. After two rounds of counting absentee ballots, Kratovil's lead grew to 2,000 votes. Forecasting that it would be more difficult for Harris to close the gap, most media outlets declared Kratovil the winner on the night of November 7.[20][21] Harris conceded on November 11.

Harris ran again in the 1st District in 2010. He defeated Rob Fisher, a conservative businessman, in the primary.

Harris's primary win set up a rematch against Kratovil. Libertarian Richard James Davis and Independent Jack Wilson also ran. In the November 2 general election Harris defeated Kratovil by 14%.

The National Journal's Cook Political Report named Harris one of the top 10 Republicans most vulnerable to redistricting in 2012, noting that Maryland Democrats could redraw Harris's home in Cockeysville out of the 1st.[22] Instead, Roscoe Bartlett's district was redrawn.[23] Harris was a beneficiary of this remap, as the reconfigured 1st included Republican-leaning portions of Harford and Baltimore counties that had previously been in Bartlett's 6th district.

Harris was re-elected to a second term, defeating Democratic challenger Wendy Rosen with 67 percent of the vote. Rosen had withdrawn from the race after being confronted with evidence that she'd voted in both Maryland and Florida in the 2006 and 2008 elections. Rosen had property in Florida, and Maryland law allowed property owners to vote in local elections even if they live elsewhere. However, her Florida voting registration reportedly also gave her access to state and federal elections there, which was not allowed by Maryland law.[24][25] However, at the time she withdrew, ballots had already been printed. John LaFerla, who had narrowly lost to Rosen in the primary, was endorsed as Rosen's replacement, but could only be a write-in.

Harris defeated Democratic nominee Bill Tilghman for a third term, taking over 70 percent of the vote.[26][27]

Harris ran for reelection in 2016. In the Republican primary, he faced three challengers and won 78.4 percent of the vote.[28][29] Former Maryland state delegates member Mike Smigiel came in second place with 10.8 percent of the vote.[29][30] Smigiel ran because he opposed Harris' strident opposition to marijuana decriminalization in the District of Columbia.[30][31]

In the general election, Harris won another term with 229,135 votes (67.8%),[32] defeating Democratic nominee Joe Werner, a "little-known Harford County attorney and perennial candidate"[33] who received 94,776 votes (28%).[32] Libertarian candidate Matt Beers received 14,207 votes (4.2%).[32] In February 2016, Harris was the first congressman to endorse candidate Ben Carson for the Republican nomination for president.[34] Carson dropped out two weeks later following a poor performance in the Super Tuesday March 1, 2016 primaries.[35]

While Harris was running for reelection, the Washington Post ran a story accusing him of ethics violations.[36] In a letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics, Maryland Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Matthews alleged Harris might have violated ethics rules requiring members to report the source of spousal income and assets.[36] In the statement, Matthews said that it appeared that Andy Harris paid his wife thousands of dollars from his campaign, then tried to hide it from government ethics regulators.[36]

In response, the Harris campaign said the omission was a mistake and the congressman amended his filing once he became aware of the error.[36]

In the general election, Harris ran against Jesse Colvin and won with 60% of the vote.[37][38]

• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation
  • Subcommittee on highways and transit
  • Subcommittee on water resources & Environment

In October 2015, Harris was named to serve on the Select Investigative Panel on Planned Parenthood.[39]

• Boating
• Chesapeake Bay Caucus
• Coal
• General Aviation
• Freedom Caucus[40]
• Hungarian American
• GOP Doctors
• Immigration Reform
• Marcellus Shale
• Natural Gas
• Northeast Agriculture
• Republican Israel Caucus
• Sportsmen's
• Republican Study Committee [41]

Harris opposes the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and voted to repeal it.[42]

At a closed-door employee benefits briefing for new congressmen during the November 2010 freshman orientation, Harris was surprised to learn that the Federal employee health benefit plan would leave the new congressmen and their staffers without coverage until the following pay period, 28 days after inauguration. Concerned about this gap in coverage, he asked whether new government employees could purchase temporary coverage to fill this gap. "This is the only employer I've ever worked for where you don't get coverage the first day you are employed," he said through his spokeswoman, Anna Nix.[43][44] Through a spokesman, his defeated opponent, Frank Kratovil, re-phrased the statement, characterizing the original question as a "demand" for special treatment and for access to the benefits he opposed in the new law.[45] Furthermore, "Harris then asked if he could purchase insurance from the government to cover the gap," added an aide, who was struck by the similarity to Harris's request and the public option that he called "a gateway to socialized medicine".[46]

On October 16, 2013, Harris voted against the motion to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.[47]

After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and President Donald Trump refused to concede while making false claims of fraud, Harris defended Trump's efforts to overturn the election.[48] Harris falsely claimed there were "large-scale voting irregularities" and "secret, unobserved vote counting in the swing states."[48]

In December 2020, Harris was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives who signed an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election.[48] The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of the election held by another state.[49][50][51]

On January 6, 2021, after 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, Harris was involved in a fight with Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) on the House floor after taking offense to Rep. Conor Lamb’s criticism of House Republicans for pushing unfounded conspiracy theories.[52]

Harris has defended Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán, an authoritarian EU leader[53] and Vladimir Putin ally[54] who has pledged to turn his country into an "illiberal democracy". Harris criticized the State Departments' efforts to support free and independent media in the country.[55]

In 2014, Harris was the leading congressional critic of marijuana decriminalization in the District of Columbia bill, and led efforts in Congress to block decriminalization from taking effect.[56] Harris's amendment led to a call from D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray to boycott tourism to Rep. Harris's district and the boycott of Maryland's 1st District,[57] as well as an online campaign requesting that D.C. area businesses refuse him service at their establishments.[58] In November 2014, D.C. residents voted in favor of legalizing recreational cannabis for adults with 68% in favor.[59] Despite this, Harris said he would use "all resources available to a member of Congress to stop this action".[60] On December 9, 2014, congressional leaders announced a deal on a spending bill that included language that will prohibit the D.C. referendum from taking effect. Harris said that "the Constitution gives Congress the ultimate oversight about what happens in the federal district."[56] Harris says that he believes that cannabis is a gateway drug[61] and that it has no proven medicinal use.[62]

The online publication ATTN: wrote that one of Harris' campaign contributors had a financial interest in keeping marijuana illegal. Harris' third largest campaign donor is the pharmaceutical corporation Emergent BioSolutions, based in Rockville, Maryland. One of Emergent's products is Epsil, advertised as "a fast-acting treatment that reduces the pain associated with oral mucositis," which is a common complication of chemotherapy from cancer treatment. ATTN: wrote that according to medical studies, marijuana can reduce the adverse effects of chemotherapy in cancer patients, and substitute for the more dangerous opioids. In states where medical marijuana has been legalized, the number of pharmaceutical pain killers prescribed has dropped significantly.[63]

In 2016, Harris opposed legislation to rename a North Carolina post office in honor of poet Maya Angelou.[64] Harris said that her support for communism disqualified her for the honor. "She supported the Communist revolution in Cuba, and my parents escaped a communist country," Harris explained.[64]

In 2020, Andy Harris voted "present" on a bipartisan bill to denounce QAnon, a far-right conspiracy group, the bipartisan resolution passed 371–18 with Harris being the only "present" vote.[65]

During the primary race of the 2017 special election to fill the vacated Senate seat of Jeff Sessions, Harris endorsed Roy Moore in his successful bid to defeat incumbent Sen. Luther Strange. Following the news of Moore's sexual abuse scandal, Harris did not withdraw his endorsement, saying that he would continue to support Moore unless the allegations were proven to be true.[66]

Harris opposed stay-at-home orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 2, 2020, he addressed protesters in Salisbury attempting to pressure Maryland governor Larry Hogan to lift restrictions, saying, "I am a physician. Let me tell you something: It is safe to begin to reopen Maryland."[67] 376 Maryland deaths were attributed to COVID-19 in the week ending on that date, and 363 on the following week.[68]

Harris opposed prohibitions of indoor dining to halt the spread of the coronavirus.[48]

Harris does not support net neutrality, characterizing the FCC vote to remove net neutrality as "eliminating burdensome and unnecessary regulations."[69]

Harris was one of four representatives who did not cast a vote regarding the second impeachment of Donald Trump on January 13, 2021. [70]