Born: 14 April 1962, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is republished from the U.S. Congress. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
In 2007, Laura Richardson won a special election to the U.S. House of Representatives to fill the seat held by her late boss, Representative Juanita Millender-McDonald of California. Richardson, who had served on the Long Beach city council and in the California state assembly, spent nearly three terms in the House working to improve infrastructure around the city of Los Angeles and bolster national security.
Laura Richardson was born on April 14, 1962, in Los Angeles, California, to Lawrence J. Richardson and Maryann Fritschler. Her father, Larry, worked as an educator, and her mother, Maryann, worked for a local trucking company. Her parents divorced when she was young, and Richardson and her sister, Leslie, were raised by their mother. The family’s brief time on government assistance and encounters with racism sparked Richardson’s interest in using the political system to improve living conditions in California. Richardson married police officer Anthony Batts in 1997. The couple later divorced.1
Richardson attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, before transferring to the University of California, Los Angeles, where she graduated in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Richardson received a master’s in business administration from the University of Southern California in 1996. She worked a variety of private sector jobs—as a marketing director of a document managing company, the owner of a customized clothing company, and as a preschool teacher—before she became a senior staff member in Representative Juanita Millender-McDonald’s Southern California district office.2
In 1996, Richardson sought the Democratic nomination for a seat in the California state assembly from the Long Beach area but lost in the primary. Four years later, in 2000, she won a spot on the Long Beach city council, narrowly defeating a popular local sports star by six votes. She served on the city council for six years while simultaneously working as an aide to California Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante. In 2006 she was elected to the California state assembly.3
On April 21, 2007, Representative Millender-McDonald died after a long battle with cancer. Richardson was one of 18 candidates to run in the June 26 open primary election for the vacant House seat. The district covered low- and middle-income sections of Long Beach, Los Angeles, Compton, and Carson, including coastal areas known for shipping and manufacturing. The district was 43 percent Hispanic and 25 percent Black. In the primary, Richardson competed with candidates from several political parties, but her main opponents were both Democrats: Millender- McDonald’s daughter, Valerie McDonald; and Hispanic state senator Jenny Oropeza. On the day of the election Richardson received the most votes—37 percent—but since no candidate won a majority, a runoff between the top finishers from each party was scheduled for August 21. Richardson’s support came primarily from the African- American community, organized labor, and the abortion rights group EMILY’s List. In the heavily Democratic district, Richardson won the special election with 67 percent of the vote over Republican John Kanaley, a Long Beach police officer. Richardson was sworn into the 110th Congress (2007–2009) on September 4, 2007.4
Facing re-election to the full term only months later, Richardson won the 2008 Democratic primary easily with 74 percent of the vote. Richardson faced no Republican opposition in the general election and prevailed with 75 percent of the vote against several write-in candidates. In the 2010 general election, she defeated Republican Star Parker, a columnist and author, with 68 percent of the vote.5
In the House, Richardson inherited Millender- McDonald’s assignment to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, where she sat for the duration of her career. She was also appointed to a seat on the Science and Technology Committee but traded that post for a seat on the Homeland Security Committee in the 111th and 112th Congresses (2009–2013). In early 2010, Richardson was appointed chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Communications, Preparedness, and Response. In late 2010, she was elected to the influential House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which helped make committee assignments and set party strategy.6
During her service on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Richardson focused on improving the roads and ports in her district, which handled a large portion of the nation’s international shipping. In April 2010, Richardson testified at an Appropriations Committee hearing, where she implored her colleagues for more infrastructure funding. She pointed to a bridge in her district, over which 10 percent of cargo entering the United States traveled. “The Gerald Desmond Bridge is the de facto trade highway gateway to the Nation,” she noted. “However, the bridge is now reduced to wearing a diaper . . . to catch the concrete and debris that falls daily from its underside.” The bridge eventually received federal funding for a full replacement. Richardson introduced several bills seeking to raise taxes to pay for infrastructure projects. One bill would have increased the tax on diesel fuel by 12 cents a gallon and another would have raised harbor taxes on container ships. Tax revenues in both bills would have been deposited in a trust fund dedicated to projects to improve the flow of cargo. In 2008, she passed a law to name a half-mile stretch of California’s Route 91 in Los Angeles County after Millender-McDonald. The highway had been part of the late Representative’s California assembly district and her House district throughout her career.7
From her position on the Homeland Security Committee—especially as chair of the Subcommittee on Emergency Communications, Preparedness, and Response—Richardson focused on port security. In 2012, two of her bills to improve security at U.S. import/ export centers were included in the bipartisan SMART Port Security Act. The first measure provided funding for local and state government agencies to administer security services in ports. The second gave administrators more flexibility to use funds to repair or replace security equipment. “Ports are the first line of defense at our sea borders and serve vital national interests,” she observed. The bill passed 402 to 21 in the House but died in the Senate. Richardson’s subcommittee also held jurisdiction over legislation pertaining to disaster preparedness. She presided over several oversight hearings on the overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. One of her hearings revealed that FEMA’s Office of Disability Integration and Coordination, tasked with ensuring that the government’s disaster response procedures were effective in helping those with disabilities, had only one full time staff member. Believing that FEMA was unprepared to help vulnerable populations after natural disasters, Richardson introduced a bill that would have enabled FEMA to hire new employees in its disability integration office.8
The California House delegation faced several changes going into in the 2012 election cycle. In 2010, state voters approved Proposition 14, modifying the open primary so that the top two candidates, regardless of party affiliation, would move on to the November general election. Additionally, an independent citizens’ commission was tasked with redrawing California’s congressional district boundaries irrespective of an incumbent lawmaker’s home address or party affiliation. In 2012, Richardson found herself facing off with Representative Janice Hahn—a firstterm Democratic incumbent—in a primary to represent a new, primarily Hispanic district stretching from San Pedro north through Carson, Compton, north Long Beach, Lynwood, and South Gate.9
Richardson also faced investigations into her personal finances by the House Ethics Committee. Shortly after her first election, journalists uncovered financial struggles Richardson had faced in the past—a bank foreclosed on a home she owned in Sacramento and then sold it back to her shortly after. The Ethics Committee investigated whether Richardson knowingly received preferential treatment from the lender on account of her status as a Member of Congress. In July 2010, an Ethics Committee report cleared her of any wrongdoing. Two years later, however, the Ethics Committee investigated allegations that Richardson compelled her congressional staff to work on her 2010 campaign and that she obstructed the committee’s investigation. In August 2012, the Ethics Committee recommended a reprimand and a fine, which the House approved.10
In the 2012 election, Hahn, who came from a storied Southern California political family, placed first in the open primary with a 20-point margin over Richardson, who placed second. In the general election, Hahn gained the official endorsement from the California Democratic Party; Richardson was backed by the Congressional Black Caucus. Hahn went on to win the general election with 60 percent of the vote.