Laura Richardson

Laura Richardson (born April 14, 1962) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for CA's 37th congressional district from 2007 to 2013.

She is a member of the Democratic Party.

She graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1984.

In 1987, she joined Xerox Corporation, where she worked for 14 years.

In 1996, Richardson received her MBA from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.

Richardson served on the Long Beach City Council from 2000 to 2006.

In 2003, Richardson said she believed weapons inspections in Iraq should have continued, and that she did not favor an invasion.

She was asked by anti-war groups to support a Long Beach City Council resolution declaring the city's opposition to the Iraq War.

She did not support this resolution, but cosponsored a resolution declaring support for local members of the National Guard.

Once hostilities began, she stated that it was important to support the troops.

She argued that once Saddam Hussein was caught and executed, American troops should have come home.

She supports a withdrawal plan beginning in six months, according to her mailers, which often contain pictures of former president George W. Bush with a slash mark through his image, indicating her opposition to Bush's policies.

She pledged to oppose any new spending for war in Iraq.

She co-wrote AB 43, the bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in California.

In 2004, Richardson won a second term outright on the first ballot.

As a councilwoman, she made statements that her priorities included neighborhood improvement, public safety, attracting jobs and businesses to the cities’ central corridors, job training programs for adults, after-school programs for youth and expanding senior programs.

Richardson established the Sixth District Master Plan, a strategic guideline for development in the area.

Other significant accomplishments during her council tenure include securing the first funding for alley maintenance by the city of Long Beach, initiating the planning process for a Senior Transportation Program in the Central Area of Long Beach.

While serving on the city council, Richardson joined the staff of Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante and served as his Southern California director for five years.

Richardson served as the assistant speaker pro tempore in the Assembly.

Richardson was the first African-American and South Bay representative to achieve this position.

Additionally, Richardson was appointed to serve on the Budget, Human Services, Utilities & Commerce, Government Organization, and Joint Legislative Budget committees.

She was chair of the Select Committee on Proposition 209-Equal Opportunity.

She previously represented the 55th district in the California State Assembly for the 2007 term until she was elected to the House of Representatives for California's 37th congressional district in a special election on August 21, 2007, to fill the vacancy resulting from the death of Juanita Millender-McDonald.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 43 in 2007.

Richardson supported AB 900 to create 40,000 more prison beds in California at the cost of $7.4 billion.

Richardson has faced some harsh scrutiny for not co-sponsoring Rep. Henry Waxman's global warming legislation.

As a result, Greenpeace has mounted a public awareness campaign about her position.

Richardson does not support building a border fence.

She was reelected to represent that district in 2008 and 2010.

Following the decennial reorganization of Congressional districts in 2012, most of Richardson's territory became the 44th District.

She ran against fellow Democratic Congresswoman Janice Hahn in the 2012 Congressional elections cycle.

On November 6, 2012, she was defeated in her bid for re-election by Representative Hahn by a landslide 20 percentage points.

Richardson was born in Los Angeles and lives in Long Beach.

She was raised by a single mother after her parents divorced when she was two.

Her father was a member of the Teamsters.

Her father was black and her mother was white.

Richardson has said that racism against their mixed-race family was "what got me since the age of about six of wanting to be a public servant."

Richardson was previously married to Long Beach Police Chief Anthony Batts.

During the marriage, she took the name Laura Richardson-Batts.