Don Harmon

In January 2009, incoming Senate President John Cullerton appointed Harmon Assistant Majority Leader. Harmon was appointed Illinois Senate President Pro Tempore in 2011. In January 2019, Harmon lost that title when Senate President John Cullerton retired the President Pro Tempore leadership position. Harmon was later elected to succeed John Cullerton as the President of the Illinois Senate on January 19, 2020.

On September 24, 2019, federal authorities raided the offices of State Senator Martin Sandoval. Among the documents seized were documents from Harmon's law firm, Burke, Burns & Pinelli. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that his firm "represents numerous government agencies in the Chicago region, including the Village of Lyons, where the mayor is Chris Getty. The Lyons village hall and Getty’s private insurance offices were visited Sept. 26 by federal agents." When asked about the raided documents, Harmon responded, "I have absolutely no idea to what that refers." Sandoval resigned from the Illinois Senate on November 27, 2019.

In 2019, another report by the Chicago Sun-Times highlighted the relationship between Harmon's firm and clout-heavy lobbyist Frank Cortese. Cortese is a close affiliate of convicted Teamsters boss John Coli. The Sun-Times revealed that Cortese set up a lobbying business "with the help of a clout-heavy law firm of Burke Burns & Pinelli, whose attorneys have donated heavily to Madigan’s campaigns over the years. Among the partners at the firm: state Sen. Don Harmon, who is vying to replace the retiring Cullerton as Illinois Senate president."

In 2017, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on Harmon's dual role as legislator and as an attorney handling state clients. A 2012 report alleges that Harmon refused to answer questions connected to his law practice.

Harmon sponsored legislation creating the Illinois Early Learning Council to create policy recommendations regarding the education of children from birth to age five. The result of that effort was the Pre-School for All program implemented throughout the state. He also authored the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003 to prohibit discriminatory policies by state, county or local governments, and to preserve for Illinois citizens civil rights protections eroded by recent U.S. Supreme Court Decisions.

First elected in the fall of 2002, Harmon served alongside then-State Senator and now former U.S. President Barack Obama.

In August 2000, Don Harmon was nominated by members of the Democratic Party of Oak Park to fulfill the term of former Illinois Senate President Phil Rock as Oak Park Democratic Committeeman. He was then elected to his first full term as Committeeman in 2002 and has since been re-elected in 2006 and 2010. In 2010, Harmon was elected to serve as the Suburban Vice-Chair of the Democratic Party of Cook County.

In the 99th General Assembly, Harmon served as the Chair of the Executive Committee as well as the Executive Committee's Subcommittee on Election Law. In the 101st General Assembly, Harmon is Vice Chair of the Executive Committee. He is the Vice Chair of the Assignments Committee and Chair of the Judiciary Committee.

Don Harmon (born November 26, 1966) is a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 39th District since 2003. His district includes Chicago's Austin neighborhood and the suburbs of Oak Park, Addison, Bensenville, Elmwood Park, Franklin Park, Melrose Park, Northlake, River Grove, Rosemont, Schiller Park, and Stone Park.