| David E. Harrison | |
| Birth Date: | 19 June 1933 |
| Birth Place: | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Death Date: | December 1, 2019 (aged 86) |
| Nationality: | American |
| Residence: | Gloucester, Massachusetts |
| Party: | Democrat |
| Spouse: | Michelle Holovak (m. 1970) |
| Alma Mater: | Gloucester High School Tufts College Portia Law School |
| Birth Name: | David Elkridge Harrison |
| Title2: | Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives |
| Term Start2: | 1963 |
| Term End2: | 1971 |
| Predecessor2: | Richard L. Hull |
| Successor2: | Richard R. Silva |
David Eldridge Harrison (June 19, 1933 - December 1, 2019) was a former American politician, lobbyist, and judge who served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and as Chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.
Harrison was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1963 to 1971, representing the 16th Essex District from 1963 to 1965[1] and the 1st Essex District from 1965 to 1971.[2]
On December 7, 1968, Harrison was unanimously elected Chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.[3] He stepped down as Chairman in May 1971 after an attempt to solve the committee's heavy debt.[4]
Following his departure from the House, Harrison worked as a lobbyist on Beacon Hill. In 1972 he was the highest paid lobbyist at the Massachusetts State House.[5]
During the 1972 United States Presidential Election, Harrison served as George McGovern's New England Campaign Coordinator.
Harrison was sworn in as a district court judge on July 27, 1988.[6] He served in the Lowell District Court[7] and later was the First Justice of the Gloucester District Court.[8]
Harrison resigned from the bench in 2006 after the Office of Bar Counsel filed a petition for discipline against him. The petition alleged that Harrison had interfered with the Commission on Judicial Conduct's inquiry of him and that he had assisted a Commission member and another judge in violating the laws protecting the confidentiality of the Commission's proceedings.[9]
In 1999, the Commission on Judicial Conduct investigated Harrison's conduct during a zoning board hearing in Gloucester, Massachusetts. During the investigation, Harrison discussed the Commission's investigation of him with Commission member Gerald Cook and he received and read a copy of the Commission's confidential memorandum.
On February 13, 2006, the Board of Bar Overseers voted to recommend that Harrison's resignation be accepted as a disciplinary sanction. On March 1, 2006, the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County entered judgment accepting the respondent's affidavit of resignation as a disciplinary sanction. A month later, the Supreme Judicial Court ordered that Harrison's name be "stricken from the Roll of Attorneys".
Harrison is a graduate of Gloucester High School, Tufts College, and Portia Law School.[10]
In 1970 he married Michelle Holovak, the daughter of former Boston College and Boston Patriots head coach Mike Holovak.[11]
Outside politics Harrison worked in insurance and real estate sales and also as a high school football and lacrosse referee.
Harrison died on December 1, 2019, in Danvers, Massachusetts.[12]