Laura Richardson’s public record is rooted in Long Beach, where she served on the City Council from 2000 to 2006 and worked on development, alleys and transportation for seniors. Her route from there moved quickly: one term in the California Assembly, a 2007 special election to Congress and two subsequent reelections. It also includes a 20-point congressional defeat, property defaults and a House reprimand after an ethics investigation. For Senate District 35 voters, Richardson is a politician with experience at three levels of government and a record that contains both municipal work and controversies involving her properties and conduct in federal office. Her career has included service in Long Beach city government, the California Assembly and Congress.
ROOTS AND HOME GROUND
Richardson was born in Los Angeles on April 14, 1962. Her parents divorced when she was two, and she was raised by a single mother. Her father, who was black, belonged to the Teamsters; her mother was white. Richardson has said racism directed at her mixed-race family influenced her desire, from a young age, to become a public servant.
She graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1984. In 1987, she joined Xerox Corporation, where she worked for 14 years. She received an MBA from USC’s Marshall School of Business in 1996.
On the Long Beach City Council, Richardson won a second term outright on the first ballot in 2004. She established the Sixth District Master Plan for development, secured Long Beach’s first funding for alley maintenance and began planning a Senior Transportation Program in Central Long Beach. While serving on the council, she also spent five years as Southern California director for Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante.
THE JUMP
Richardson represented the 55th district in the California State Assembly during the 2007 term. Her stay was brief. On August 21, 2007, she won a special election for California’s 37th congressional district. Voters returned her to the House in 2008 and again in 2010.
Her congressional tenure included a vote for the FISA Amendments Act on June 20, 2008. She endorsed Hillary Clinton in that year’s Democratic presidential primary. In Sacramento, she had supported AB 900, legislation to create 40,000 additional prison beds in California.
The congressional map changed in 2012. Most of Richardson’s former territory became part of the 44th District, while her Long Beach home was drawn into the new 47th District. She moved into the 44th District, sought reelection against Representative Janice Hahn and lost on November 6, 2012, by 20 percentage points. It was the end of a rapid sequence that had taken Richardson from the Long Beach council to the Assembly and then to Congress within seven years.
THE HARD RECORD
Richardson’s time in higher office was accompanied by financial and ethics cases that became part of her public record. After her election to the Assembly, she bought a Sacramento home with no money down and a subprime mortgage. According to county records, she received a default notice and Notice of Trustee’s Sale in late 2007. Following the congressional special election, she stopped paying her mortgages; properties in Long Beach and San Pedro also went into default.
The Sacramento home was foreclosed while Richardson said she had a loan-modification agreement with her lender. She was accused of receiving preferential treatment when the bank rescinded the foreclosure, but the House Ethics Committee cleared her of wrongdoing in that matter. She also faced complaints over the maintenance of the Sacramento property.
A separate House Ethics Committee investigation concerned the improper use of congressional staff. The committee found that Richardson had broken federal law, violated House rules and obstructed its investigation. She was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, and the full House voted to accept the committee’s report and reprimand her. Richardson claimed in 2011 that she had been singled out because of her race.
THE POLICY SIGNATURE
Richardson’s municipal policy record includes work she did in Long Beach. The Sixth District Master Plan provided a strategic guideline for development in the area. She secured the city’s first funding for alley maintenance and initiated planning for a Senior Transportation Program in Central Long Beach.
Her record at the state and federal levels includes support for a large expansion of California’s prison capacity and a vote for the FISA Amendments Act. Those votes sit alongside the neighborhood-scale work of her council years.
Documented interests in Richardson’s record include Long Beach development, municipal alley maintenance and transportation planning for seniors. Her career also includes a council plan, the first city funding for alley maintenance, a planning process and service in state and federal office. That record also includes her electoral defeat, property defaults and the House Ethics Committee findings that led to her reprimand.
- State Senate · Senate District 35 · 2024–present
- State Senate · Senate District 35 · 2006–
Laura Richardson’s public record is rooted in Long Beach, where she served on the City Council from 2000 to 2006 and worked on development, alleys and transportation for seniors. Her route from there moved quickly: one term in the California Assembly, a 2007 special election to Congress and two subsequent reelections. It also includes a 20-point congressional defeat, property defaults and a House reprimand after an ethics investigation. For Senate District 35 voters, Richardson is a politician with experience at three levels of government and a record that contains both municipal work and controversies involving her properties and conduct in federal office. Her career has included service in Long Beach city government, the California Assembly and Congress.
ROOTS AND HOME GROUND
Richardson was born in Los Angeles on April 14, 1962. Her parents divorced when she was two, and she was raised by a single mother. Her father, who was black, belonged to the Teamsters; her mother was white. Richardson has said racism directed at her mixed-race family influenced her desire, from a young age, to become a public servant.
She graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1984. In 1987, she joined Xerox Corporation, where she worked for 14 years. She received an MBA from USC’s Marshall School of Business in 1996.
On the Long Beach City Council, Richardson won a second term outright on the first ballot in 2004. She established the Sixth District Master Plan for development, secured Long Beach’s first funding for alley maintenance and began planning a Senior Transportation Program in Central Long Beach. While serving on the council, she also spent five years as Southern California director for Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante.
THE JUMP
Richardson represented the 55th district in the California State Assembly during the 2007 term. Her stay was brief. On August 21, 2007, she won a special election for California’s 37th congressional district. Voters returned her to the House in 2008 and again in 2010.
Her congressional tenure included a vote for the FISA Amendments Act on June 20, 2008. She endorsed Hillary Clinton in that year’s Democratic presidential primary. In Sacramento, she had supported AB 900, legislation to create 40,000 additional prison beds in California.
The congressional map changed in 2012. Most of Richardson’s former territory became part of the 44th District, while her Long Beach home was drawn into the new 47th District. She moved into the 44th District, sought reelection against Representative Janice Hahn and lost on November 6, 2012, by 20 percentage points. It was the end of a rapid sequence that had taken Richardson from the Long Beach council to the Assembly and then to Congress within seven years.
THE HARD RECORD
Richardson’s time in higher office was accompanied by financial and ethics cases that became part of her public record. After her election to the Assembly, she bought a Sacramento home with no money down and a subprime mortgage. According to county records, she received a default notice and Notice of Trustee’s Sale in late 2007. Following the congressional special election, she stopped paying her mortgages; properties in Long Beach and San Pedro also went into default.
The Sacramento home was foreclosed while Richardson said she had a loan-modification agreement with her lender. She was accused of receiving preferential treatment when the bank rescinded the foreclosure, but the House Ethics Committee cleared her of wrongdoing in that matter. She also faced complaints over the maintenance of the Sacramento property.
A separate House Ethics Committee investigation concerned the improper use of congressional staff. The committee found that Richardson had broken federal law, violated House rules and obstructed its investigation. She was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, and the full House voted to accept the committee’s report and reprimand her. Richardson claimed in 2011 that she had been singled out because of her race.
THE POLICY SIGNATURE
Richardson’s municipal policy record includes work she did in Long Beach. The Sixth District Master Plan provided a strategic guideline for development in the area. She secured the city’s first funding for alley maintenance and initiated planning for a Senior Transportation Program in Central Long Beach.
Her record at the state and federal levels includes support for a large expansion of California’s prison capacity and a vote for the FISA Amendments Act. Those votes sit alongside the neighborhood-scale work of her council years.
Documented interests in Richardson’s record include Long Beach development, municipal alley maintenance and transportation planning for seniors. Her career also includes a council plan, the first city funding for alley maintenance, a planning process and service in state and federal office. That record also includes her electoral defeat, property defaults and the House Ethics Committee findings that led to her reprimand.
The record
7,546 events, each with its sourceSenate 3rd Reading SR28 Hurtado et al
Senate 3rd Reading SR23 Rubio et al
Special Consent ACR19 Macedo et al
Special Consent ACR20 Macedo et al
Special Consent ACR33 Zbur et al
Special Consent ACR17 Hadwick et al
Special Consent ACR22 Muratsuchi et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB26 Umberg et al. Urgency Clause
Special Consent ACR26 Bonta et al
Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Natural Resources and Water]
Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Judiciary]
Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations]
Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar
Senate 3rd Reading SR25 Limón
Senate 3rd Reading SR19 Wahab et al
Senate 3rd Reading SCR30 Smallwood-Cuevas
Senate 3rd Reading SCR26 Weber Pierson By Senator Becker
Relative to California Agriculture Day.
Senate 3rd Reading SCR27 Choi
Senate 3rd Reading SCR7 Niello
Senate 3rd Reading SR18 Richardson
Senate 3rd Reading SR15 Ochoa Bogh et al
Senate 3rd Reading SCR20 Ochoa Bogh et al
Senate 3rd Reading SCR19 Wahab et al
Senate 3rd Reading SR17 Rubio et al
Relative to Problem Gambling Awareness Month.
Senate 3rd Reading SCR21 Smallwood-Cuevas
Encampment Resolution Funding program: safe parking sites: reporting.
Sales and use taxes: exemptions: California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project: transit buses.
Local government: nuisance abatement.
CalFresh: student eligibility.
Energy: transportation fuels: supply: reportable pipelines.
Workers’ compensation: professional athletes.
Emergency medical services: state-employed public safety personnel: optional first aid skills.
California Workforce Development Board: port automation.
California Environmental Quality Act: judicial streamlining: state of emergency: wildfire.
Smog check: motor vehicles: exemption.
Ken Maddy California Cancer Registry.
Marriage: prohibition on minors.
Winter Fires of 2025: real property tax: exemptions and reassessment.
Community Hardening Commission: wildfire mitigation program.
Planning and zoning: community plans: review under the California Environmental Quality Act.
Health and care facilities: licensing during emergencies or disasters.