Elihu Mason Harris was born August 15, 1947 in Los Angeles, California. A Democrat representing Oakland, he earned a BA in Political Science from California State University, Hayward, an MA in Public Policy from University of California, Davis, and a JD from University of California, Davis. He is a past executive director of the National Bar Association, and chaired the Assembly Judiciary Committee. His legislative agenda focused on civil rights, criminal justice, tax reform, transportation and poverty. He passed legislation to establish Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday as a state holiday. After leaving the State Legislature, he was elected Mayor of Oakland in 1991, which he held until 1998, and from 2003-2010 he was Chancellor of the Peralta Community College District.