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Laura Richardson
2024 - Present
2028
0
Laura Richardson (Democratic Party) is a member of the California State Senate, representing District 35. She assumed office on December 2, 2024. Her current term ends on December 4, 2028.
Richardson (Democratic Party) ran for election to the California State Senate to represent District 35. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
Laura Richardson was born in Los Angeles, California. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1984 and a graduate degree from the University of Southern California in 1996.[1]
Career
- 2007-2013: U.S. House of Representatives California's 37th Congressional District
- 2006-2007: California State Assembly, District 55
- 2001-2006: Staff, Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante of California
- 2000-2006: City Council of Long Beach, California
- 1996-1998: Staff, United States Representative Juanita Millender-McDonald
Noteworthy events
Staff use controversy
Richardson faced allegations of misusing her congressional staffers starting in early 2012. She was accused of telling her congressional aides to collect information about communities outside her district, organizing a workshop to train constituents, and writing talking points for those constituents to deliver while the California Citizens Redistricting Commission met.[2]
On March 9, 2012, Brenda Cruz, who worked as an aide to Richardson, submitted a letter of resignation that stated she was mistreated by Richardson and a senior staffer during and after her pregnancy, making Cruz leave the job for her and her child's health.
Her letter read in part, "As a service connected-disabled veteran it is sad to say that I [would] rather be at war in Afghanistan then work under people that are morally corrupt. I have a child to think about now, and my son needs his mother to be healthy and happy."[3]
Cruz also said she was routinely made to work on Richardson's re-election campaign while in her district office. Richardson's office denied the claims, calling them "completely baseless."
The House Ethics Committee said that Richardson broke the law by, "improperly using House resources for campaign, personal, and nonofficial purposes; by requiring or compelling her official staff to perform campaign work," and that she later tried "to influence the testimony of witnesses."[4]
Richardson pleaded guilty to seven counts of ethics violations and the House formally reprimanded her and levied a $10,000 fine. As of March 2013, she still had not paid her fine.[4][5]
Out of cash
Richardson spent all of the taxpayer money allotted for her official congressional duties, according to an internal email obtained by Politico. As a result of these money troubles, some of her aides were afraid that they will be laid off following the November election.[6]
Richardson's chief of staff, Shirley Cooks, wrote the following in an email to staff, "Since we are over-budget, we don’t have money for mailings etc so we have to go the way of putting on public events that do not require the use of the MRA." The MRA, member’s representational allowance, is the account members of congress use for costs from providing services to constituents.[6]
Any spending that takes place over each member's allotted amount of money must be made up out of pocket.[6]
Specific votes
Fiscal Cliff
Richardson voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. She was 1 of 172 Democrats that voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257 - 167 vote on January 1, 2013.[7]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: California State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for California State Senate District 35
Laura Richardson defeated Michelle Chambers in the general election for California State Senate District 35 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Laura Richardson (D) | 50.6 | 122,862 |
 | Michelle Chambers (D) | 49.4 | 120,144 | |
| Total votes: 243,006 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for California State Senate District 35
The following candidates ran in the primary for California State Senate District 35 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Laura Richardson (D) | 27.8 | 26,916 |
| ✔ | | Michelle Chambers (D) | 24.5 | 23,670 |
| James A. Spencer (R) | 18.8 | 18,193 | ||
 | Albert Robles (D) | 8.5 | 8,263 | |
 | Alex Monteiro (D) | 6.0 | 5,840 | |
 | Jennifer Trichelle-Marie Williams (D) | 5.4 | 5,242 | |
 | Nilo Vega Michelin (D) | 4.8 | 4,628 | |
| Lamar Lyons (D) | 4.1 | 3,959 | ||
| Total votes: 96,711 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Richardson in this election.
2012
Richardson ran for re-election in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing California's 44th District as a Democrat. She was displaced from her current district, the 37th by redistricting. She and incumbent Democrat Janice Hahn advanced past the June 5, 2012, blanket primary. They faced off in the general election on November 6, 2012, and Hahn won.[8][9][10] Richardson was considered one the vulnerable incumbents.[11]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Janice Hahn Incumbent |
60.2% | 99,909 | |
| Democratic | Laura Richardson Incumbent | 39.8% | 65,989 | |
| Total Votes | 165,898 | |||
| Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
2010
On November 2, 2010, Richardson won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Star Parker (R) and Nicholas Dibs (Independent) in the general election.[12]
| U.S. House, California District 37 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Laura Richardson Incumbent |
68.4% | 85,799 | |
| Republican | Star Parker | 23.2% | 29,159 | |
| Independent | Nicholas Dibs | 8.4% | 10,560 | |
| Total Votes | 125,518 | |||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Laura Richardson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Analysis
Congressional staff salaries
The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Richardson paid her congressional staff a total of $1,027,922 in 2011. She ranked 89th on the list of the lowest paid Democratic representative staff salaries and ranked 135th overall of the highest paid representative staff salaries in 2011. Overall, California ranked 5th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[13]
Net worth
Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Richardson's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $-1,230,988 and $463,996. That averages to $-383,496, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic representatives in 2010 of $4,465,875.[14]
National Journal vote ratings
- See also: National Journal vote ratings
2012
Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Richardson ranked 92nd in the liberal rankings in 2012.[15]
2011
Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Richardson ranked 100th in the liberal rankings in 2011.[16]
Political positions
Voting with party
November 2011
Laura Richardson voted with the Democratic Party 89.2 percent of the time, which ranked 153 among the 192 House Democratic members as of 2011.[17]
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of California scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
Congressional tenure
Committee assignments
U.S. House
2011-2012
Richardson served on the following committees:[18]
- Homeland Security Committee
- Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies
- Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications Ranking Member
- Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
- Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
- Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials
- Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate California State Senate District 35 |
Officeholder California State Senate District 35 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "RICHARDSON, Laura, (1962 - )"
- ↑ DailyBreeze.com, "Rep. Richardson's attorney disputes allegations she ordered redistricting work," February 14, 2012
- ↑ Politico, "Former Laura Richardson aide: I'd rather be at war in Afghanistan," March 25, 2012
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Washington Post, "Ethics panel says Rep. Laura Richardson broke federal law," August 1, 2012
- ↑ SCPR, "Former LA Congresswoman Laura Richardson still owes ethics fine," accessed January 11, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Politico, "Sources: Richardson out of cash," October 31, 2012
- ↑ U.S. House, "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff," accessed January 4, 2013
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcnnr - ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official primary candidate list," accessed March 13, 2014
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Unofficial election results," November 6, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ New York Times"House Race Ratings" accessed October 3
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
- ↑ LegiStorm, "Laura Richardson"
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Richardson, (D-Cali), 2010"
- ↑ National Journal, "2012 Congressional Vote Ratings," February 21, 2013
- ↑ National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," accessed February 23, 2012
- ↑ OpenCongress, "Voting With Party," accessed July 2014
- ↑ Congresswoman Laura Richardson, Representing the 37th District of California, "Committees"
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Steven Bradford (D) |
California State Senate District 35 2024-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
U.S. House California District 37 2007-2013 |
Succeeded by Karen Bass (D) |
| Preceded by - |
California State Assembly District 55 2006-2007 |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Long Beach City Council 2000-2006 |
Succeeded by - |
