Katherine Harris Biography

Katherine Harris is an American politician, elected in 1998 as Secretary of State of Florida and in 2002 to the United States House of Representatives from Florida. A Republican, Harris won the 2002 election to represent Florida’s 13th congressional district, serving for two terms, from 2003 to 2007. Harris lost her campaign in 2006 for a United States Senate seat from Florida.

In 1994, Harris was noted for the most expensive campaign for the Florida Senate to date, winning her seat that year in her entry into electoral politics. In the 2000 presidential election, Harris gained national attention for her role in the Florida election recount, certifying George W. Bush’s narrow victory (537 votes) over Al Gore and awarding him the Florida electors, which gained him the national election.

Katherine Harris Age

Katherine Harris was born in Key West, Florida, U.S. on April 5, 1957. She is 62 years as of 2019.

Katherine Harris Family

Harris was born in Key West, Florida, to one of the state’s wealthiest and most politically influential families. She is the daughter of Harriet (Griffin) and George W. Harris, Jr., who owned Citrus and Chemical Bank in Lakeland, Florida. Her maternal grandfather was Ben Hill Griffin, Jr., a successful businessman in the citrus and cattle industries and a powerful figure in the state legislature. In 1990, shortly before his death, he was ranked as the 261st richest American on the Forbes 400 list. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at the University of Florida is named for him.

Harris studied under Dr. Francis Schaeffer at an L’Abri Fellowship International center. She also attended Greystone, an all-girls Christian camp at Asheville, North Carolina. Harris was reared in the Presbyterian Church in America, but as an adult, she has criticized the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for being more liberal. She attends Calvary Chapel, a non-denominational charismatic church in Sarasota, Florida.

In 1975 Harris graduated from Bartow High School in Bartow, Florida. She attended the University of Madrid in 1978. The following year, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia. She studied under Christian theologian Francis Schaeffer at the L’Abri community in Huemoz, Switzerland, near Lausanne. While in college she worked as an intern for U.S. Representative Andy Ireland. In 1996, Harris earned an M.P.A. from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Katherine Harris Husband

Harris was married to Swedish businessman Sven Anders Axel Ebbeson in 1996 and has one stepdaughter, Louise. Sven Ebbeson committed suicide in November 2013.

Katherine Harris Career

Before entering politics, Harris worked as a marketing executive at IBM and a vice president of a commercial real estate firm.

Harris ran for the Florida Senate as a Republican in 1994 in one of the most expensive state races in Florida history to that time. Harris’s political career was guided by Dan Berger, Adam Goodman, and Benjamin McKay, along with her campaign manager, David Lapides.

Florida Senate and Riscorp

Harris played a prominent role in introducing William Griffin (with whom she had a close personal relationship), the CEO of Riscorp, to various Florida legislators. In the 1994 state senate election, Sarasota-based Riscorp, Inc. made illegal contributions totaling $400,000 to dozens of political candidates and committees, including $20,600 to the Harris campaign.

Two years later, in 1996, Harris sponsored a bill to block Riscorp competitors from getting a greater share of Florida workers’ compensation market, she also pushed a proposal that would hurt a particular competitor. This issue later emerged during her campaign for Florida Secretary of State in 1998.

William Griffin eventually pleaded guilty to illegal campaign donations, among allegations of other serious wrongdoing at Riscorp, and served prison time in 1998. The election of Republican Jeb Bush as governor of Florida is considered to have been a major factor in stopping further state investigation into the Riscorp scandal. According to a Sun-Herald column from June 2005, Harris denied any knowledge of the scheme, was never charged with any crime and was cleared of wrongdoing by a state investigator.

Secretary of State

Harris was elected Florida Secretary of State in 1998. She defeated then-incumbent Sandra Mortham in the Republican primary and won the general election against Democratic candidate, Karen Gievers, an attorney from Miami. A state constitutional change passed in the same year making the Secretary of State an appointed office made Harris the last person to be elected Secretary of State in Florida.

International travel

During her first 22 months in office, Harris spent more than $106,000 for travel, more than the governor or any other cabinet officer. She visited eight countries on ten foreign trips.

In early 2001, Florida Senate leaders eliminated the $3.4 million that Harris had budgeted for international relations for the year, assigning it instead to Enterprise Florida, the state’s economic development agency. However, Florida House Leader Tom Feeney said that he disagreed with the Senate and believed that Harris was an able advocate to foreign countries.

After the House refused to agree with the proposed budget action, the Senate agreed to restore the money; however, it insisted on a review committee, appointed by Senate President John McKay, Feeney, and Governor Jeb Bush, to evaluate all of Harris’ expenditures on international affairs since July 1, 1999, and produce a report.

The United States Congresswoman

In 2002, Harris ran against Sarasota Attorney Jan Schneider for the congressional district vacated by retiring Republican Rep. Dan Miller, winning by 10 percentage points in this solidly Republican district, a victory helped with one of the biggest first-term campaign fundraising efforts in the history of this district and substantial support from the Bush family.

He considered running for the seat of retiring Senator Bob Graham in 2004 but was reportedly dissuaded by the Bush White House to allow Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martinez to run instead. Martinez went on to narrowly beat challenger Betty Castor. Harris ran for re-election to her House seat in 2004; she was re-elected with a margin almost identical to her first win.

In a 2004 speech in Venice, Florida, Harris claimed that a “Middle Eastern” man was arrested for attempting to blow up the power grid in Carmel, Indiana; Carmel Mayor James Brainard and a spokesman for Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan said they had no knowledge of such a plot. Brainard said he had never spoken to Harris.

During a 2004 campaign stop in Sarasota, a local resident, Barry Seltzer, tried to ‘intimidate’ a group of Harris supporters by menacing Harris and her supporters with his automobile. Witnesses described Seltzer as having swerved off the road and onto the sidewalk, directing it at Harris and her supporters. Nobody was injured in the incident. Seltzer, who claimed he was exercising his political expression, was eventually arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

2006 Senate race

On June 7, 2005, with support from her new campaign advisors of Ed Rollins and Jim Dornan, Harris announced her candidacy for the 2006 Florida United States Senate election, challenging Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson.

By late July 2006, Harris had gone through three campaign managers and her campaign was floundering. At that time, it was disclosed that state Republican Party leaders had told Harris they would not support her because she could not win in the general election. Financial problems plagued Harris’ Senate campaign from the start. During the primary, it was clear that the incumbent Senator Nelson had a substantial financial advantage.

On the March 15, 2006, edition of Fox News Channel’s Hannity & Colmes, Harris pledged to spend $10 million of her own money, which she said was all of her inheritance, on her campaign. She also stated that her run was dedicated to the memory of her father.

Despite her promise, the $10 million never materialized. Reports surfaced that Harris would not actually receive the inheritance from her father, who instead left his entire estate to her mother. She donated $3 million to her campaign but later took back $100,000, fueling speculation that she would be unable to donate the promised amount. In October, Harris announced that she was trying to sell her house in Washington to raise money for her campaign, but the home was not publicly listed for sale and no sale was ever announced.

Nelson defeated Harris by more than one million votes. Harris received less than 39% of the vote.

Additionally, Harris was the subject of some popular skits on Saturday Night Live, in which she was played by Ana Gasteyer; she was also portrayed by actress Laura Dern in the 2008 film Recount, for which Dern won a Golden Globe. Harris is also referenced in one of filmmaker Kevin Smith’s monologues for the DVD An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder.

Katherine Harris Net Worth

Harris’s primary source of income is from her political career. However, her estimated net worth is still under review but will be updated as soon as it is clear.