Jon Richards

Jonathan David Richards (born September 5, 1963) is an American attorney and politician. He currently serves as a Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge in Milwaukee County, since his appointment on September 22, 2020, by Governor Tony Evers. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented Milwaukee for 16 years in the Wisconsin State Assembly and was a candidate for Attorney General of Wisconsin in 2014.[1]

The Honorable Jon Richards
Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the Milwaukee Circuit, Branch 30
Incumbent
Assumed office September 22, 2020
Appointed by	Tony Evers
Preceded by	Jeffrey A. Conen
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 19th district
In office January 5, 1999 – January 3, 2015
Preceded by	Barbara Notestein
Succeeded by	Jonathan Brostoff
Personal details
Born	September 5, 1963 Waukesha, Wisconsin
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Andrea Rowe Richards
Residence	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Alma mater	Lawrence University, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Profession	Attorney

Early life and education

Born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Richards graduated from Waukesha North High School. He received his bachelor's degree from Lawrence University and went on to earn his J.D. from University of Wisconsin Law School.[2] He also attended Keio University in Tokyo, Japan. Richards taught English in Japan and volunteered with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India.[3][4]

Career

Richards has been an attorney for more than 25 years. In 1998 he was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly representing the 19th District for eight terms. He served as Assistant Minority Leader from 2003 to 2007.[4] He also served on the Joint Finance Committee and chaired the Public Health Committee.

In October 2013, Richards announced he would run for Attorney General of Wisconsin rather than running for a ninth term in the Assembly.[5] He came in second in the Democratic primary election of August 2014, with 90,101 votes (33%) to 144,369 (52%) for Susan Happ, who went on to lose the general election in November.[6][7]

Following the end of his term in the Assembly, Richards joined the Milwaukee law firm Ziino, Germanotta, Knoll & Christensen. He also worked as a volunteer attorney with the Eviction Defense Project as well as for victims of human trafficking through Lotus Legal Clinic, and was director of the Take Back My Meds coalition—which encourages the safe disposal of unused medicines to prevent drug abuse and lake contamination.[8]

On September 22, 2020, Governor Tony Evers announced he had appointed Richards to the Wisconsin Circuit Court seat recently vacated by the resignation of Judge Jeffrey Conen.[9] Judge Richards announced he will seek election to a full term on the court in the 2021 spring election.[10]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1998–2012)

Wisconsin Assembly, District 19 Election, 1998[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Democratic Primary, September 8, 1998
	Democratic	Jon D. Richards	1,921	65.18%
	Democratic	Jim Carpenter	534	18.12%
	Democratic	Al Campos	492	16.69%
Plurality			1,387	19.60%
Total votes			2,947	100.0%
General Election, November 3, 1998
	Democratic	Jon D. Richards	10,672	69.94%	-15.46%
	Republican	Curtis Lamon	3,852	25.25%	+10.65%
	Independent	Stephen Latin-Kasper	734	4.81%
Plurality			6,820	19.60%	-26.12%
Total votes			15,258	100.0%	-11.96%
	Democratic hold

Wisconsin Attorney General (2014)

Wisconsin Attorney General Election, 2014[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Democratic Primary, August 12, 2014
	Democratic	Susan V. Happ	144,727	52.04%
	Democratic	Jon Richards	90,215	32.44%
	Democratic	Ismael Ozanne	42,627	15.33%
		Scattering	564	0.20%
Plurality			54,512	19.60%
Total votes			278,133	100.0%

References

1. Richmond, Todd. "Democratic Rep. Jon Richards announces candidacy for Wisconsin attorney general". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013 – via Wayback Machine.
2. "Atty. Jonathan David Richards". Martindale-Hubbell. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
3. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Biographies" (PDF). In Pohlman, Julie; Lemanski, Lynn (eds.). State of Wisconsin 2013-2014 Blue Book (Report). p. 33. ISBN 978-0-9752820-6-9. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
4. "Representative Jon Richards - Assembly District 19". Wisconsin Legislature. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
5. Stein, Jason. "Rep. Jon Richards enters race for Wisconsin attorney general". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
6. Bauer, Scott; Richmond, Todd (August 13, 2014). "Susan Happ wins Democratic attorney general primary". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
7. Hall, Dee J. (November 5, 2014). "Republican Brad Schimel wins race for Wisconsin attorney general". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
8. "About Judge Richards". John Richards Milwaukee County Judge. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
9. Vielmetti, Bruce (September 22, 2020). "Evers appoints a former legislator and a public defender as judges in Milwaukee County". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
10. Conley, Alanna (November 25, 2020). "Judge Jon Richards campaign announcesendorsement of 30 additional judges" (PDF). Richards for Judge (Press release). Retrieved December 2, 2020 – via Wispolitics.com.
11. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1999). "Elections" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S.; Meloy, Patricia E. (eds.). State of Wisconsin 1999-2000 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 879, 882. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
12. "Canvass Results for 2014 Fall Partisan Primary - 8/12/2014" (PDF). Wisconsin Elections Commission. August 29, 2014. p. 2. Retrieved September 22, 2020.

External links

• Profile at Vote Smart
• Jon Richards at Ballotpedia
• 2020 Circuit Judge campaign website
• 2014 Attorney General campaign website (Archived)
• Jonathan D. Richards at Ziino, Germanotta, Knoll & Christensen
• Follow the Money – Jon Richards
  • 2008 2006 2004 2002 2000 1998 campaign contributions
• Campaign 2008 campaign contributions at Wisconsin Democracy Campaign