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
Assumed office
September 22, 2020
Appointed byTony Evers
Preceded byJeffrey A. Conen
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the 19th district
In office
January 5, 1999 – January 3, 2015
Preceded byBarbara Notestein
Succeeded byJonathan Brostoff
Personal details
Born (1963-09-05) September 5, 1963
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Andrea Rowe Richards
ResidenceMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Alma materLawrence University,
University of Wisconsin–Madison
ProfessionAttorney

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.
Wisconsin State Assembly
Preceded by
Barbara Notestein		 Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 19th district
January 5, 1999 – January 3, 2015		 Succeeded by
Jonathan Brostoff
Legal offices
Preceded by
Jeffrey A. Conen		 Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the Milwaukee Circuit, Branch 30
September 22, 2020 – present		 Incumbent


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