Brian E. Harrison

Brian Edward Harrison (born May 19, 1982) is an American government official who has represented the 10th district in the Texas House of Representatives since winning a special election for the seat in 2021. He previously served as chief of staff of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and ran for the United States House of Representatives in the 2021 special election for Texas's 6th congressional district, gaining 10.8% of the vote and placing fourth in a field of 23 candidates. The election was won by state representative Jake Ellzey. Harrison ran in and won the ensuing special election for Ellzey's state house seat on September 28, 2021.

Education A graduate of Ovilla Christian School, Harrison earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Texas A&M University.

Career From 2005 to 2009, Harrison held positions at the Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, United States Department of Defense, and Office of the Vice President of the United States during the Presidency of George W. Bush.

After leaving government service in 2009, he was the director of healthcare practice at the DCI Group, a public affairs consulting group. In 2011, he was a delegate at the annual American-German Young Leaders Conference organized by the American Council on Germany.

During the Presidency of Donald Trump, Harrison was appointed deputy chief of staff in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and promoted to chief of staff when his predecessor departed in June 2019. Harrison coordinated the HHS early response to the COVID-19 pandemic before those responsibilities were transferred to Robert Kadlec in February 2020. According to Harrison, he worked “closely” with Dr. Anthony Fauci and was "an integral leader of the development of Operation Warp Speed."

In February 2021, Harrison was reported to be exploring running for the special election in after the death of incumbent Ron Wright. On March 1, 2021, Harrison officially declared his candidacy. Harrison came in fourth place in the special election with 10.81% of the vote. The special election was held on August 31, 2021, and Harrison placed first with 41 percent of the vote with 4,613 votes and John Wray placed second with 36 percent of the vote with 4,031 votes. Harrison and Wray would later face each other in a runoff election. The runoff was held on September 28, 2021, and Harrison defeated Wray 55.38% to 44.62%.

Texas House of Representatives On May 27, 2023, Harrison voted against impeaching Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton was ultimately acquitted of all charges following the trial in the state senate.

After the 88th legislative session, Harrison, in addition to others such as Texas Governor Greg Abbott, was one of the most vocal supporters of the campaign to replace ideologically opposed Republicans using the votes in the Paxton impeachment and the issue of private school vouchers as litmus tests for whether certain members were truly conservative. Ultimately 15 Republican incumbents were ousted in 2024 primary with new ideologically aligned Republicans.

During the race for Texas Speaker of the House in the lead up to the 89th legislative session Harrison supported candidate David Cook who ran on the issue of banning members of the minority party, in this case Democrats, from receiving committee chairmanships in the Texas House. Cook lost the speaker's race in the second round to Dustin Burrows.

On April 1, 2025, Harrison attempted to remove Speaker Burrows from his post by making a motion to vacate the chair. He cited the changes of House rules regarding Democrat vice-chairs on committee and an alleged prioritization of Democratic legislative policies as the reason for his motion. Burrows refused to recognize Harrison for the motion stating that the motion “must be raised by resolution”. On April 8, Harrison filed the resolution and it was put before the House the next day. The subsequent debate was swiftly shut down on a vote of 141-2. Only Harrison and Rep. David Lowe voted to continue debate.

In September 2025, Harrison shared a series of videos and audio recordings online which showed discussions between a student and faculty at Texas A&M University. In one of the videos a student confronts the instructor, Dr. Melissa McCoul, about her teaching of issues related to gender identity featured in the children's book Jude Saves the World. The video sparked a pressure campaign which eventually resulted in McCoul being fired for teaching content “that did not align with any reasonable expectation of the standard curriculum”. As Harrison released more recordings and other state officials like Governor Greg Abbott became involved more faculty were removed from their positions and ultimately Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh resigned.

Electoral history

Personal life Harrison was married to Tara Napier in 2011. She worked at the White House during the Bush administration in 2007 and at the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 2005 to 2011 before being hired by BP as communications manager in December 2011.