[5] She was appointed by mayor Richard M. Daley to fill the vacancy left after Todd Stroger retired to become President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
On December 13, 2006, Michelle Harris was confirmed as Alderwoman by the Chicago City Council and sworn in.
In 2015 she "demanded" along with 14 other African-American aldermen,[10] that Mayor Rahm Emanuel fire Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy due to inefficacy in combating murders in her ward.
[11] In an article titled "The Big Spenders—and What They Charged", Chicago magazine lists out the most egregious examples of luxurious spending of campaign contributions by Illinois politicians.
[12] In the runoff of the 2019 Chicago mayoral election, Harris endorsed Toni Preckwinkle against her opponent Lori Lightfoot.