Cedric Richmond

On December 18 2019, Richmond voted to impeach President Donald J. Trump.

From 2017 to 2019, Richmond served as Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. He is the only Democratic Representative from Louisiana serving in the House. He had previously served several terms as State Representative from New Orleans to the Louisiana State House, from 2000 to 2011. In 2019, he was named the first national co-chairman of the Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign.

In January 2017 Richmond became involved in an argument with Republican lawmakers over whether a particular painting should continue to hang in the Capitol. The painting in question shows police officers apprehending suspects, and the police are depicted as pigs. It was painted by someone from Richmond's district who had won a local award, and Republicans objected to it. Richmond said that escalating the issue might "open up Pandora's Box" because there are other paintings that some people might also find offensive.

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 said the joke was not meant to be sexual. “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.”

Richmond has been active in the Congressional Black Caucus, made up of African-American legislators who work together to have their views heard. On November 30, 2016, he was elected chair of the Caucus for the 115th United States Congress.

Richmond plays in the annual Congressional Baseball Game. He 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. Richmond lost his first game in 2016, a day after participating through the night in the 2016 United States House of Representatives sit-in.

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

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 that had been built to honor their service.

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

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

In 2010, Richmond was elected to the US House of Representatives from Louisiana's 2nd congressional district for the first time. He took office in 2011. He was reelected in 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018.

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.

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

Most analysts considered Richmond a strong favorite to retake this 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 the most Democratic district in the country to be represented by a Republican. In 2008 Obama had carried it with 74% of the vote, his fifth-best performance in a Southern district and his 35th best nationally.

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

Louisiana State Representative, 101st District, 2007

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 accused Moreno of drug use, and she attacked him based on his disqualification from the 2005 New Orleans City Council "D" District election. Later in 2008, the Louisiana Supreme Court suspended Richmond's law license for six months in a 5–2 decision. It found that he had falsified a sworn statement claiming more than two years' residency in New Orleans's "D" District in order to be eligible for the district's city council seat.

Louisiana State Representative, 101st District, 2003

Richmond entered politics and the Democratic Party. He was elected and served as the Louisiana State Representative for District 101 (Orleans Parish) from 2000 to 2011. Having been elected shortly after his 27th birthday, when he took office, he was 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.

Louisiana State Representative, 101st District, 1999

Cedric Levon Richmond (born September 13, 1973) is an American politician and member of 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.

Richmond was born in New Orleans in 1973 and raised in New Orleans East, where he attended public schools. His 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. While at Morehouse, Richmond played college baseball as a pitcher for the Morehouse Maroon Tigers in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.