Dennis Richardson (politician)

Dennis Richardson
26th Secretary of State of Oregon
Assumed office
January 2, 2017
Governor Kate Brown
Preceded by Jeanne Atkins
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
from the 4th district
In office
January 2003 – January 2015
Preceded by Cherryl Walker
Succeeded by Duane Stark
Personal details
Born Dennis Michael Richardson
(1949-07-30) July 30, 1949
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Cathy Richardson
Children 9
Education Brigham Young University, Utah (BA, JD)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance  United States
Service/branch  United States Army
Battles/wars Vietnam War

Dennis Michael Richardson (born July 30, 1949) is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician. He is the 26th and current Secretary of State of Oregon. Richardson is from Central Point, Oregon and served six terms in the Oregon House of Representatives as a member of the Oregon Republican Party. He represented House District 4, which includes portions of Jackson and Josephine counties, and was the Republican nominee for Governor of Oregon in the 2014 election, losing to incumbent John Kitzhaber.

In 2016, Richardson was the successful Republican nominee for Oregon Secretary of State, defeating Democratic candidate Brad Avakian with 47% of the vote to Avakian's 43%.

Early career

The son of a carpenter, Richardson grew up in Southeast Los Angeles but has been an Oregon resident since 1979. He enlisted in the U.S. Army’s Warrant Officer Helicopter Pilot Training Program and during his 1971 deployment, he flew combat missions out of Chu Lai, Vietnam. The South Vietnamese Army awarded him its Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. Two years following his honorable discharge from the Army, Richardson and his wife Cathy were married. They are parents of one son and eight daughters. Richardson earned his bachelor and law degrees at Brigham Young University. After law school, Richardson set up his legal practice in Central Point, Oregon, where he worked for more than 30 years before retiring in 2010.

In 1984 Richardson was invited by the Reagan Administration to participate at the White House in a series of briefings by President Ronald Reagan and his Cabinet. Richardson served as Chairman of the Oregon Republican Party’s Second Congressional District in 1996–2000, and Treasurer of the Oregon Republican Party in 1999–2003. In 2000, Richardson was recruited to serve on the Central Point City Council, which helped inspire his decision to run for the Oregon State Legislature.

Legislative career

Richardson was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 2002, where he served for 12 years (six terms).

In his second term, Richardson was elected by unanimous vote of both Democratic and Republican colleagues as Speaker Pro Tempore of the Oregon House of Representatives’ 73rd Legislative Session (2005) and chosen to oversee multibillion-dollar health and human service budgets as Chair of the Joint Senate–House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Health and Human Services.

In his third term, Richardson was reelected and served in the 74th Legislative Assembly (2007), where he was selected to serve as the Minority Whip and as Vice-Chair of the House Health Care Policy Committee.

Prior to the opening of the 2011 session, Richardson served on the Republican negotiations team and helped craft the "Oregon Co-Governance Model." Later in 2011, Richardson was selected to oversee the $55 billion combined State budgets as Co-Chair of the Full Joint Senate–House Ways & Means Committee.

2014 gubernatorial campaign

In July 2013, announced his candidacy as a Republican candidate for the Governor of Oregon in 2014, with a strong focus on small business growth in the state.[1] He won the nomination with 65% of the vote.[2] Richardson went on to lose the 2014 General Election to Democratic incumbent, John Kitzhaber, who was elected to his fourth term as Oregon’s Governor.

In the concluding weeks of the campaign, Richardson emphasized the corruption of Governor Kitzhaber and his administration and called for a federal investigation with a 13-page letter sent to the Federal Prosecutor in Portland, Oregon.[3] Although insufficient to turn the tide on election day, newly re-elected Governor John Kitzhaber announced his resignation three months later on February 13, 2015.[4]

Secretary of State

Richardson speaking to members of the Oregon Army National Guard in January 2017

In October 2015, Richardson announced he would be running for Oregon Secretary of State in the 2016 election.[5] He defeated his opponent, Brad Avakian, in the November 2016 election.

He is the first Republican to win a statewide election in Oregon since 2002, and the first Republican nominee to win a Secretary of State election in Oregon since 1980. Richardson was administered the oath of office on December 30, 2016,[6] and formally took office on January 2, 2017.[6][7][8]

Electoral history

Oregon House District 4 election, 2002[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Richardson 13,919 60.36
Democratic Shayne Maxwell 9,050 39.25
Other 91 0.39
Total votes 23,060 100.00
Oregon House District 4 Republican primary, 2004[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Richardson 6,432 98.80
Republican Other 78 1.20
Total votes 6,510 100.00
Oregon House District 4 election, 2004[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Richardson 21,649 70.58
Democratic Richard Koopmans 8,937 29.13
Other 88 0.30
Total votes 30,674 100.00
Oregon House District 4 Republican primary, 2006[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Richardson 6,248 98.69
Republican Other 83 1.31
Total votes 6,331 100.00
Oregon House District 4 election, 2006[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Richardson 16,604 69.50
Democratic Richard Koopmans 7,214 30.20
Other 71 0.30
Total votes 23,889 100.00
Oregon House District 4 Republican primary, 2008[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Richardson 6,996 87.64
Republican Ronald Schutz 962 12.05
Republican Other 25 0.31
Total votes 7,983 100.00
Oregon House District 4 Democratic primary, 2008[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Dennis Richardson (write-in) 73 29.92
Democratic Other 171 70.08
Total votes 244 100.00
Oregon House District 4 election, 2008[15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Richardson 19,641 70.63
Independent Keith Wangle 8,053 28.95
Other 116 0.42
Total votes 27,810 100.00
Oregon House District 4 Republican primary, 2010[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Richardson 6,307 99.28
Republican Other 46 0.72
Total votes 6,353 100.00
Oregon House District 4 election, 2010[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Richardson 17,495 70.46
Democratic Rick Levine 7,279 29.32
Other 57 0.23
Total votes 24,831 100.00
Oregon House District 4 Republican primary, 2012[18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Richardson 5,821 99.30
Republican Other 41 0.70
Total votes 5,862 100.00
Oregon House District 4 Democratic primary, 2012[18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Dennis Richardson (write-in) 42 48.84
Democratic Other 44 51.16
Total votes 86 100.00
Oregon House District 4 election, 2012[19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Richardson 21,284 86.95
Constitution Richard D. Hake 3,047 12.45
Other 148 0.60
Total votes 24,479 100.00
Oregon gubernatorial Republican primary, 2014[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Richardson 163,695 65.86
Republican Gordon Challstrom 24,693 9.93
Republican Bruce Cuff 23,912 9.62
Republican Mae Rafferty 16,920 6.8
Republican Tim Carr 14,847 5.97
Republican Darren Karr 2,474 1.0
Write-ins 2,011 0.8
Total votes 248,552 100
County results
Oregon gubernatorial election, 2014[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John Kitzhaber 733,230 49.89
Republican Dennis Richardson 648,542 44.13
Pacific Green Jason Levin 29,561 2.01
Libertarian Paul Grad 21,903 1.49
Constitution (Oregon) Aaron Auer 15,929 1.08
Progressive Chris Henry 13,898 0.95
Write-ins 6,654 0.45
Total votes 1,469,717 100
Oregon Secretary of State Republican primary, 2016[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Richardson 260,622 77.89
Republican Sid Leiken 71,992 21.51
Republican Write-ins 2,006 0.60
Total votes 334,620 100
County results
Oregon Secretary of State election, 2016[23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Richardson 903,623 47.06%
Democratic Brad Avakian 834,529 43.47%
Independent Paul Wells 66,210 3.45%
Pacific Green Alan Zundel 48,946 2.55%
Libertarian Sharon Durbin 47,675 2.48%
Constitution Michael Marsh 15,372 0.80%
Write-ins 3,594 0.19%
Total votes 1,919,949 100%

References

  1. ↑ Gaston, Christian (July 24, 2013). "Oregon Rep. Dennis Richardson announces run for governor". The Oregonian. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
  2. ↑ Esteve, Harry (May 20, 2014). "Dennis Richardson wins GOP governor primary, will face Democrat John Kitzhaber". The Oregonian. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Letter outlined legal case against Hayes and Kitzhaber". Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Oregon Gov. Kitzhaber resigns amid ethics scandal". Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  5. ↑ Friedman, Gordon (October 29, 2015). "Dennis Richardson announces Secretary of State bid". The Statesman Journal. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  6. 1 2 Hernandez, Lauren E. (December 30, 2016). "Dennis Richardson sworn in as secretary of state". Statesman Journal. Salem, Oregon. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Secretaries of State of Oregon". Oregon Blue Book. Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Oregon's 1st Republican Elected To Statewide Office In 14 Years Takes Office Friday". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  9. ↑ "OR State House 04 2002". Our Campaigns. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Official Results" (pdf).
  11. ↑ "Official Results" (pdf).
  12. ↑ "Official Results" (pdf).
  13. ↑ "Official Results" (pdf).
  14. 1 2 "Official Results" (pdf).
  15. ↑ "Official Results" (pdf).
  16. ↑ "Official Results" (pdf).
  17. ↑ "Official Results" (pdf).
  18. 1 2 "Official Results" (pdf).
  19. ↑ "Official Results" (pdf).
  20. ↑ "May 20, 2014 Primary Election Abstract of Votes: Governor" (PDF). Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  21. ↑ "November 4, 2014, General Election, Official Abstract of Votes: Governor" (PDF). Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  22. ↑ "Secretary of State County Totals". Oregon Secretary of State. State of Oregon. May 26, 2016. Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  23. ↑ "UNOFFICIAL 2016 GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 8, 2016". OregonVotes. Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Chris Dudley		 Republican nominee for Governor of Oregon
2014		 Succeeded by
Bud Pierce
Political offices
Preceded by
Jeanne Atkins		 Secretary of State of Oregon
2017–present		 Incumbent
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