On August 21, Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA) won a special election to fill the seat of the late Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA), who died of cancer on April 22. She was sworn in on September 4.
Her election brings the total number of House women serving in the 110th Congress to 74, and the number of African American women serving in the House to 14. Three women serve as Delegates; there are 53 Democrats and 21 Republicans. Sixteen women serve in the Senate.
A native of California, Rep. Richardson worked as a field deputy for then-Rep. Millender-McDonald in the late 1990s. In 2000, she was elected to the Long Beach City Council. During her tenure with the City Council, she served as Southern California Director for Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante. In 2006, Rep. Richardson was elected to represent the 55th District in the California State Assembly, a seat also once occupied by Rep. Millender-McDonald. She served on the California Legislature’s Leadership Team and was the first African American woman to serve as assistant speaker pro tempore in the Assembly.
Rep. Richardson holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA and a master’s of business administration degree from the University of Southern California.
