pollster, public-opinion (public opinion) analyst, and columnist. He founded Louis Harris and Associates, Inc. (1956), and LH Research (1992) and was director of the Time Magazine–Harris Poll (1969–72).

The son of a real-estate developer, Harris studied economics at the University of North Carolina (A.B., 1942) and served in the U.S. Naval Reserve (1942–46). In 1946 he joined a polling firm headed by Elmo Roper (Roper, Elmo), writing Roper's newspaper columns and radio scripts and engaging in political research. In 1956 Harris left Elmo Roper and Associates and established his own firm, Louis Harris and Associates, in New York City. By 1962 he was the chief polling analyst for CBS News, though he later (1969) switched to ABC News. He was concurrently a columnist for the Washington Post and Newsweek (1963–68) and for the Chicago Tribune–New York Daily News Syndicate (1969–88).

Harris's services were especially associated with election campaigns, initially and most notably with the presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy (Kennedy, John F.) in 1960. He later served the campaigns of hundreds of Democratic and Republican candidates for president, governor, the U.S. Congress, mayor, and other offices. Harris's firm advised candidates on campaign strategies, helping them to determine which issues and which aspects of their personalities might be most appealing to voters. Harris also did much work in market research for commercial clients.

Among Harris's many books are Is There a Republican Majority? (1954), The Negro Revolution in America (1964, with William Bunk), Black and White (1967), Black-Jewish Relations in New York City: The Anguish of Change (1973), and Inside America (1987).