Cedric Richmond


Cedric Levon Richmond is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district since 2011. His district includes most of New Orleans.
From 2017 to 2019, Richmond served as Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. He is the only Democratic Representative from Louisiana serving in the House. He had previously served several terms as State Representative from New Orleans to the Louisiana State House, from 2000 to 2011. In 2019, he was named the first national co-chairman of the Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign.

Early life and education

Richmond was born in New Orleans in 1973 and raised in New Orleans East, where he attended public schools. His father died when he was seven years old. His mother was a public school teacher and small business owner. Richmond graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School. He received a B.A. degree from Morehouse College, and a J.D. degree from Tulane School of Law. He also completed an executive program at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government. While at Morehouse, Richmond played college baseball as a pitcher for the Morehouse Maroon Tigers in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Louisiana legislature

Richmond was elected and served as the Louisiana State Representative for District 101 from 2000 to 2011. He was elected shortly after his 27th birthday and was one of the youngest legislators ever to serve in Louisiana when he took office. He served as the Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary and a member of the Ways and Means, House Executive, and Legislative Audit Advisory committees.

U.S. House of Representatives

In 2010, Richmond was elected to the US House of Representatives from Louisiana's 2nd congressional district for the first time. He took office in 2011. He was reelected in 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018.
On June 9, 2014, Richmond introduced the Honor Flight Act, a bill that would direct the Transportation Security Administration to establish a process for providing expedited and dignified passenger screening services for veterans traveling on an Honor Flight to visit war memorials that had been built to honor their service.
That year Richmond defended his Republican colleague Vance McAllister, who had become embroiled in an alleged adultery scandal. It was a rare across-the-aisle gesture. Richmond said that he associated the controversy around McAllister with "gotcha moments" in which the "two parties in this country have gone overboard...and taken joy in the pain of their supposed opponents".
Richmond has been active in the Congressional Black Caucus, made up of African-American legislators who work together to have their views heard. On November 30, 2016, he was elected chair of the Caucus for the 115th United States Congress.
On December 18 2019, Richmond voted to impeach President Donald J. Trump.

Elections

;2008
Richmond came in third place in the seven-candidate primary election for the Democratic nomination for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, behind U.S. Representative William J. Jefferson and television newscaster Helena Moreno. During a primary debate, Richmond accused Moreno of drug use, and she attacked him based on his disqualification from the 2005 New Orleans City Council "D" District election.
Later in 2008, the Louisiana Supreme Court suspended Richmond's law license for six months in a 5–2 decision. It found that he had falsified a sworn statement claiming more than two years' residency in New Orleans's "D" District in order to be eligible for the district's city council seat.
;2010
Richmond challenged Republican incumbent Anh “Joseph” Cao for. Richmond was the first candidate in the 2010 elections to have President Barack Obama appear in a television ad on his behalf.
Most analysts considered Richmond a strong favorite to retake this seat for the Democrats, even in what was forecast to be a Republican year nationally. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+25, the 2nd was the most Democratic district in the country to be represented by a Republican. In 2008 Obama had carried it with 74% of the vote, his fifth-best performance in a Southern district and his 35th best nationally.
Richmond won the November 2 election with 65% of the vote.
;2012

Committee assignments

In January 2017 Richmond became involved in an argument with Republican lawmakers over whether a particular painting should continue to hang in the Capitol. The painting in question shows police officers apprehending suspects, and the police are depicted as pigs. It was painted by someone from Richmond's district who had won a local award, and Republicans objected to it. Richmond said that escalating the issue might "open up Pandora's Box" because there are other paintings that some people might also find offensive.
In March 2017 Richmond was criticized for making a crude joke about a controversial photograph of Kellyanne Conway kneeling on the Oval Office couch. Richmond appeared to compare Conway to Monica Lewinsky, saying, "I really just want to know what was going on there, because she really looked kind of familiar there in that position there. But don't answer. And I don't want you to refer back to the ’90s.” Richmond later said the joke was not meant to be sexual. “Since some people have interpreted my joke to mean something that it didn’t I think it is important to clarify what I meant,” he said in a statement. “Where I grew up saying that someone is looking or acting ‘familiar’ simply means that they are behaving too comfortably.”

Sports

Richmond plays in the annual Congressional Baseball Game. He was the starting Democratic pitcher for each of the five years since his election and the Democrats won each game. He had a 2.85 earned run average, 1.67 walks plus hits per inning pitched and 45 strikeouts in his 27 innings pitched in that span. In 2016 Republican team manager Joe Barton called him the best player to ever participate in the game. Richmond lost his first game in 2016, a day after participating through the night in the 2016 United States House of Representatives sit-in.

Electoral history

U.S. Representative, 2nd Congressional District November Election, 2016
CandidateAffiliationSupportOutcome
Kenneth CutnoDemocratic28,855 Defeated
Melvin HoldenDemocratic57,125 Defeated
Cedric RichmondDemocratic198,289 Won

U.S. Representative, 2nd Congressional District-November Election, 2014
CandidateAffiliationSupportOutcome
David BrooksNo Party16,327 Defeated
Samuel DavenportLibertarian15,237 Defeated
Gary LandrieuDemocratic37,805 Defeated
Cedric RichmondDemocratic152,201 Won

U.S. Representative, 2nd Congressional District-November Election, 2012
CandidateAffiliationSupportOutcome
Josue LaroseRepublican11,345 Defeated
Caleb TrotterLibertarian6,791 Defeated
Dwayne BaileyRepublican38,801 Defeated
Gary LandrieuDemocratic71,916 Defeated
Cedric RichmondDemocratic158,501 Won

U.S. Representative, 2nd Congressional District-Democratic Party, 2010
August 28, 2010
CandidateAffiliationSupportOutcome
Eugene GreenDemocratic2,497 Defeated
Gary JohnsonDemocratic1,911 Defeated
Juan LaFontaDemocratic5,166 Defeated
Cedric RichmondDemocratic14,622 Won

U.S. Representative, 2nd Congressional District-Democratic Party, 2008
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, November 2, 2004
CandidateAffiliationSupportOutcome
James CarterDemocratic9,286 Defeated
Troy "C" CarterDemocratic5,797 Defeated
William J. JeffersonDemocratic17,510 Run-off
Byron L. LeeDemocratic8,979 Defeated
Helena MorenoDemocratic13,795 Run-off
Cedric RichmondDemocratic12,095 Defeated
Kenya J. H. SmithDemocratic1,749 Defeated

Louisiana State Representative, 101st District, 2007
October 20, 2007
CandidateAffiliationSupportOutcome
Cedric L. RichmondDemocratic2,944 Elected
Roland BartheDemocratic1,107 Defeated

Louisiana State Representative, 101st District, 2003
October 4, 2003
CandidateAffiliationSupportOutcome
Cedric RichmondDemocratic6,943 Elected
Willie Jones, Jr.Democratic1,906 Defeated

Louisiana State Representative, 101st District, 1999
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, October 23, 1999
CandidateAffiliationSupportOutcome
Wesley T. BishopDemocratic1,241 Defeated
Naomi White FarveDemocratic1,835 Defeated
Cedric RichmondDemocratic3,480 Run-off
Eddie ScottDemocratic2,119 Run-off

Second Ballot, November 20, 1999
CandidateAffiliationSupportOutcome
Cedric RichmondDemocratic3,980 Elected
Eddie ScottDemocratic2,361 Defeated