Cedric Richmond

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Cedric Richmond (2011)

Cedric Levon Richmond (born September 13, 1973 in New Orleans , Louisiana ) is an American politician of the Democratic Party . Since 2011, he represents the second congressional district of the state of Louisiana in the United States House of Representatives .

Family, education and work

Cedric Richmonds lost his father when he was seven and was raised by his mother alone, who worked as a teacher and small business owner. Raised in east New Orleans, he played and coached baseball in the Little League and later in college and still as a congressman. He attended Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans until 1991. He then studied at Morehouse College in Atlanta ( Georgia ), where he graduated with a bachelor's degree . His subsequent law degree from Tulane University , he finished in New Orleans in 1999 with the Juris Doctor after being at the 1997 Harvard University belonging to John F. Kennedy School of Government , the Executive Education Program had graduated. In 1998, Richmond was admitted to the Louisiana bar and worked as such for the law firm Gray & Gray in New Orleans.

Political career

First elected to a political mandate in 1999 at the age of 26, Richmond sat from 2000 to 2008 as a member of the 101st electoral district in the Louisiana House of Representatives . He was temporarily chairman of the judicial committee and a member of the tax committee, as well as two other committees and chairman of the Black Caucus. In 2005 he participated in the evacuation of the residents of New Orleans after the devastating Hurricane Katrina and criticized the reaction of Mayor Ray Nagin for not ordering an evacuation of the city. Richmond ran for a seat on the New Orleans City Council in 2005 but was refused entry because he was not a constituency and had provided false information; he lost his license to practice law for six months.

In the 2008 election , he unsuccessfully sought his party's nomination for the 2nd congressional electoral district of the state when he only achieved third place with 17 percent in the Democratic primary - including against the mandate holder William J. Jefferson , who is suspected of corruption .

In the 2010 election , Richmond was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the same district , where he succeeded the previously defeated Republican Joseph Cao on January 3, 2011 . The congressional electoral district covers most of the city of New Orleans and is considered a Democratic stronghold. Richmond had been backed by President Barack Obama and received 65 percent of the vote. As one of only three Democrats, he won a seat previously held by the Republicans that year; this also succeeded John C. Carney in Delaware and Colleen Hanabusa in Hawaii .

In Congress he is or was a member of the committees for homeland security and small businesses and two sub-committees. Richmond belongs to the influential Congressional Black Caucus , in the 115th Congress (2017-2019) as its chairman, and is a member of the centrist New Democrat Coalition . It is attributed to his influence that John Conyers quietly resigned after harassment allegations in 2018. After the dissatisfaction with parliamentary group leader Nancy Pelosi had grown in the 2018 election year and her possible successor Joseph Crowley had been defeated in the primary , Richmond was named along with several other congressmen as a possible African-American speaker of the House of Representatives if the Democrats win the 2018 election.

Always re-elected by large majorities, most recently in the 2016 election , his congressional mandate - the only one a Democrat for Louisiana - currently runs until January 3, 2019.

Positions

Richmond is committed to improving the education system and maintaining social security systems such as Medicaid and Medicare , and has advocated greater control over arms sales. He initiated legislation to provide rapid reconstruction and investment aid for natural disaster areas in Louisiana. Socio-politically more liberal , Richmond advocates freedom of choice for women in terms of abortion ( Pro-Choice ) and legal equality for homosexuals . Richmond speaks out in favor of preserving affirmative action , including as an expert witness at the Senate hearing of Supreme Court candidate Brett Kavanaugh in September 2018.

In view of the increasing political polarization, he has spoken out in favor of greater cooperation with Republicans to implement projects for Louisiana. For example, he worked with Garret Graves to raise funds for those affected by the flood, and in 2018 named the Republican faction's Whip Steve Scalise as the person with whom he coordinates closely. Many Republicans attribute his advocacy to the fact that an old Scalise speech to white supremacy audiences did not permanently harm them. Richmond believes President Donald Trump's demand to build a border wall with Mexico is detrimental as it harms Louisiana's intensive trade with its southern neighbor. In order to achieve a safe residence status for people who immigrated to the United States as children ( Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ), Richmond sees the possibility of cooperation between both major parties. The health care reform Obamacare , which the Republicans fought against, is to remain in place according to Richmond's will, but is to be reformed.

Web links

Commons : Cedric Richmond  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Alex Gangitano: Cedric Richmond: Congressional Baseball's Best Player Ever? In: Roll Call , June 23, 2016.
  2. ^ A b c d e Kyle Rex: Richmond, Cedric Levon (1973-). In: Black Past
  3. ↑ a b Cedric Richmond's Biography. In: Vote Smart.
  4. ↑ a b Richmond, Cedric L. In: Our Campaigns.
  5. ↑ John Bresnahan, Heather Caygle: Democratic takeover Could bring first black speaker. In: Politico , August 1, 2018.
  6. ↑ Cedric Richmond in the Notable Names Database (English)
  7. ↑ Bryn Stole: At the final day of Kavanaugh hearings, Rep. Richmond blasts nominee and Sens. Cassidy and Kennedy endorse. In: The Advocate , September 7, 2018.
  8. ↑ Stephane Riegel: Cedric Richmond: Political divide worse in Baton Rouge than Washington DC In: Greater Baton Rouge Business Report , May 30, 2018
  9. ↑ John Bresnahan, Heather Caygle: Democratic takeover Could bring first black speaker. In: Politico , August 1, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Richmond, Cedric
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Richmond, Cedric Levon (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH September 13, 1973
PLACE OF BIRTH New Orleans , Louisiana