Cedric Richmond

Cedric Richmond
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Louisiana's 2nd district
Assumed office
January 3, 2011
Preceded by Joseph Cao
Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
from the 101st district
In office
2000–2011
Preceded by Naomi White Farve
Succeeded by Wesley Bishop
Personal details
Born Cedric Levon Richmond
(1973-09-13) September 13, 1973
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Raquel Greenup
Education Morehouse College (BA)
Tulane University (JD)
Website House website

Cedric Levon Richmond (born September 13, 1973)[1] is an American politician in the Democratic Party who has been the U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district since 2011. His district includes most of New Orleans. Since January 3, 2017, Richmond has served as Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.[2][3]

Early life and education

He was raised in New Orleans East, and attended public schools. Richmond's 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.[4] While at Morehouse, Richmond played college baseball as a pitcher for the Morehouse Maroon Tigers in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.[5]

Louisiana legislature

Then State Representative Richmond with FEMA officials and others

He was the Louisiana State Representative for District 101 (Orleans Parish) from 2000 to 2011.[6] Having been first elected shortly after his 27th birthday, at the time he took office he became one of the youngest legislators ever to serve in Louisiana. 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.[7]

U.S. House of Representatives

From left, Senator Mark Warner, Senator Michael Bennet, Senator Tom Udall, Former NBA player Muggsy Bogues, Congressman Joseph Crowley and Congressman Richmond.

In an across-the-aisle gesture which was rare in Congress at the time, Richmond in 2014 defended his Republican colleague Vance McAllister, who had become embroiled in an alleged adultery scandal. Richmond associated the controversy with "gotcha moments" in which the "two parties in this country have gone overboard...and taken joy in the pain of their supposed opponents".[8]

On June 9, 2014, Richmond introduced the Honor Flight Act (H.R. 4812; 113th Congress), a bill that would direct the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to establish a process for providing expedited and dignified passenger screening services for veterans traveling on an Honor Flight to visit war memorials built and dedicated to honor their service.[9]

On November 30, 2016, Richmond was elected to chair the Congressional Black Caucus in the 115th United States Congress.[10]

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 attempted to discredit Moreno with accusations of drug use, while she attempted to attack his personal integrity by bringing up his disqualification from the 2005 New Orleans City Council "D" District election.[11] Later in 2008, Richmond's law license was suspended for 6 months by the State Supreme Court in a 5–2 decision after it was found that he falsified a sworn statement claiming greater than 2 years residency in New Orleans' "D" District in order to be eligible for the district's City Council position.[12]

2010

Richmond challenged Republican incumbent Anh “Joseph” Cao for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district.

Richmond was the first candidate in the 2010 elections to have President Barack Obama appear in a television ad on his behalf.[13]

Most pundits reckoned Richmond as a heavy favorite to retake the 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 far and away the most Democratic district in the country to be represented by a Republican. The next most Democratic district on that list, Delaware's At-large congressional district, had a PVI of D+7. In 2008 Obama had carried the 2nd with a 74 percent of the vote, his fifth-best performance in a Southern district and his 35th best nationally.

Richmond won the November 2, 2010 election in the heavily Democratic majority-minority district with 65 percent of the vote.[14]

2012

Committee assignments

Congressional Caucuses

Controversy

In 2008 Richmond had his law license suspended for two months following a Louisiana Supreme Court decision in response to his false testimony that he had lived in District D for more than two years when he ran for a seat on the New Orleans City Council.[16]

In January 2017, Richmond became involved in an argument with Republican lawmakers over the right to have a painting continue to hang in the Capitol. The painting in question shows police officers apprehending suspects, and the police are depicted as pigs.[17] Richmond said that if the painting continues to be removed, "We may just have to kick somebody's ass."[17] He went on to say that escalating the issue may "open up Pandoras Box" because there are other paintings that some people may also find offensive.[18]

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 explained that the joke was not meant to be sexual.[19]

Richmond in fact, did not apologize, he only clarified his remarks by stating “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.” [19]

Sports

Richmond is a player for the annual Congressional Baseball Game. Richmond 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.[20] Richmond lost his first game in 2016, a day after participating through the night in the 2016 United States House of Representatives sit-in.[5]

Electoral history

U.S. Representative, 2nd Congressional District November Election, 2016[21]

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Kenneth Cutno Democratic 28,855 (10%) Defeated
Melvin Holden Democratic 57,125 (20%) Defeated
Cedric Richmond Democratic 198,289 (70%) Won

U.S. Representative, 2nd Congressional District-November Election, 2014[21]

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
David Brooks No Party 16,327 (7%) Defeated
Samuel Davenport Libertarian 15,237 (7%) Defeated
Gary Landrieu Democratic 37,805 (17%) Defeated
Cedric Richmond Democratic 152,201 (69%) Won

U.S. Representative, 2nd Congressional District-November Election, 2012[21]

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Josue Larose Republican 11,345 (4%) Defeated
Caleb Trotter Libertarian 6,791 (2%) Defeated
Dwayne Bailey Republican 38,801 (14%) Defeated
Gary Landrieu Democratic 71,916 (25%) Defeated
Cedric Richmond Democratic 158,501 (55%) Won

U.S. Representative, 2nd Congressional District-Democratic Party, 2010[22] August 28, 2010

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Eugene Green Democratic 2,497 (10%) Defeated
Gary Johnson Democratic 1,911 (8%) Defeated
Juan LaFonta Democratic 5,166 (21%) Defeated
Cedric Richmond Democratic 14,622 (60%) Won

U.S. Representative, 2nd Congressional District-Democratic Party, 2008[22]

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, November 2, 2004

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
James Carter Democratic 9,286 (13%) Defeated
Troy "C" Carter Democratic 5,797 (8%) Defeated
William J. Jefferson Democratic 17,510 (25%) Run-off
Byron L. Lee Democratic 8,979 (13%) Defeated
Helena Moreno Democratic 13,795 (20%) Run-off
Cedric Richmond Democratic 12,095 (17%) Defeated
Kenya J. H. Smith Democratic 1,749 (3%) Defeated

Louisiana State Representative, 101st District, 2007[22]

October 20, 2007

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Cedric L. Richmond Democratic 2,944 (73%) Elected
Roland Barthe Democratic 1,107 (27%) Defeated

Louisiana State Representative, 101st District, 2003[22]

October 4, 2003

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Cedric Richmond Democratic 6,943 (78%) Elected
Willie Jones, Jr. Democratic 1,906 (22%) Defeated

Louisiana State Representative, 101st District, 1999[22]

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, October 23, 1999

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Wesley T. Bishop Democratic 1,241 (14%) Defeated
Naomi White Farve Democratic 1,835 (21%) Defeated
Cedric Richmond Democratic 3,480 (40%) Run-off
Eddie Scott Democratic 2,119 (24%) Run-off

Second Ballot, November 20, 1999

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Cedric Richmond Democratic 3,980 (63%) Elected
Eddie Scott Democratic 2,361 (37%) Defeated

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 5, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Membership". Congressional Black Caucus. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  4. ↑ "Meet Cedric Richmond | Cedric Richmond for Congress - Louisiana 2nd District". Cedricrichmond.com. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
  5. 1 2 Kane, Paul (June 14, 2017). "Analysis | Congressional ballgame builds bipartisan friendship. Exhibit A: Steve Scalise and Cedric Richmond". Washington Post. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  6. ↑ "Voters pick Bishop, Mills in legis races | WBRZ News 2 Louisiana : Baton Rouge, LA |". Wbrz.com. 2011-01-23. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
  7. ↑ "About Cedric". cedricrichmond.com. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  8. ↑ Alpert, Bruce (2014-04-11). "Richmond reaches out to McAllister: He admonishes both parties". Times-Picayune. New Orleans. p. A3. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
  9. ↑ "H.R. 4812 - Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  10. ↑ Rainey, Richard (November 30, 2016). "Cedric Richmond elected chair of Congressional Black Caucus". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  11. ↑ Donze, Frank (September 26, 2008). "Moreno, Richmond trade barbs at 2nd District talk". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  12. ↑ Donze, Frank (December 2, 2008). "State Rep. Cedric Richmond's law license suspended". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  13. ↑ Burns, Alexander (October 4, 2010). "La.'s Richmond gets Obama's 1st ad". Politico. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  14. ↑ Krupa, Michelle; Donze, Frank (November 2, 2010). "Cedric Richmond wins 2nd District House race; Joseph Cao concedes". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
  15. ↑ "Members". New Democrat Coalition. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  16. ↑ Morrow, Brendan (2017-03-02). "Cedric Richmond: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  17. 1 2 Marcos, Cristina (January 13, 2017). "Democrat re-hangs painting depicting cops as pigs". The Hill. Retrieved January 13, 2017. The painting has inflamed tensions on Capitol Hill between the two parties. The Hill asked Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, if the painting would need someone to monitor it around the clock to prevent further removals. "No," Richmond replied. "We might just have to kick somebody's ass and stop them, though."
  18. ↑ "CBC: 'We may just have to kick somebody's ass' over painting removal". Politico. January 10, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017. Richmond said any escalation of the issue might "open up Pandora's Box." “I’m looking at some paintings that people could probably find some offense to," he said. "So you just open up Pandora’s Box to, I think, anarchy when it comes to the art around this building." "I think it would be a bad move. I think politically it would be an awful move to do that," he continued.
  19. 1 2 Heil, Emily. "Rep. Cedric Richmond made an awkward joke about Kellyanne Conway, but he says it wasn't meant to be sexual". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  20. ↑ Gangitano, Alex (23 June 2016). "Cedric Richmond: Congressional Baseball's Best Player Ever?". Roll Call. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  21. 1 2 3 "Louisiana Secretary of State - Live Election Results". voterportal.sos.la.gov. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 "Elections Division". Louisiana Secretary of State. Archived from the original on January 17, 2009. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Joseph Cao		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Louisiana's 2nd congressional district
2011–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
G. K. Butterfield		 Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus
2017–present
Current U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Jim Renacci		 United States Representatives by seniority
225th		 Succeeded by
Martha Roby
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