John G. Richardson

John G. Richardson
File:Richardson 2010.jpg
Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development
In office January 2007 – November 2009
Preceded by	Jack Cashman
Succeeded by	Thaxter Trafton
97th Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives
In office December 2004 – December 2006
Preceded by	Patrick Colwell
Succeeded by	Glenn Cummings
Maine House Majority Leader
In office December 2002 – December 2004
Preceded by	Patrick Colwell
Succeeded by	Glenn Cummings
Member of the Maine House of Representatives from the 49th & 63rd district
In office December 1998 – December 2006
Preceded by	Reginald G. Pinkham
Succeeded by	Charles R. Priest
Personal details
Born	June 29, 1957
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Dr. Stephanie Grohs
Children	John A., Glenn, Madeline
Residence	Brunswick, Maine
Alma mater	Creighton University School of Law, University of Maryland
Website	John Richardson for Governor

John G. Richardson, a Democrat, is currently seeking the Democratic Nomination for Governor of Maine. He formerly served as Commissioner of Economic and Community Development and the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives.

Biography

They call it a flash fire, a powerful surge that can happen any time a fire fighter enters a burning building. This one knocked 19-year-old John Richardson down and blew his helmet off.

Like his grandfather and his father, John was a lieutenant in a volunteer fire-fighting unit. He had run into this burning building because a mother thought her child had been left behind.

The incident left John badly burned and changed his life forever. He spent nearly five months in the hospital recovering from third-degree burns over 30 percent of his body.

But while physically weak, the experience left him stronger and more determined in other ways. John learned he was not the invincible young man he thought he was. People get knocked down, and when they do, they need help getting up. It was then that John decided he wanted to be an advocate, to dedicate his life to helping people get back on their feet.

John's recovery was a long and hard road. It took months to regain the use of his badly burned right hand and years to be healthy enough to finish school. But he graduated from the University of Maryland and was the first in his family to earn a college degree. John then worked for a few years at an accounting practice, where he learned what it took to build a successful business. But that work didn't satisfy his desire for advocacy, and he left accounting to pursue his dream of becoming an attorney.

On the day he graduated from the Creighton University School of Law in 1989, John married his wife Stephanie, who had studied to be a physician.

John's family had roots in Springfield, Maine, he grew up on Bottle Lake in the summer time, and he and Stephanie decided that Maine was the place with the right sense of community and the right values to raise their own family. They settled in Brunswick and had three children, John A., Glenn and Madeline. They joined St. John's Catholic Church, where John served as vice president of the Parish Council.

John took at job at the Portland law firm of Troubh, Heisler and Piampiano. His wife set up practice as Dr. Stephanie Grohs, an OB/GYN serving Mid-Coast Maine.

As an attorney, John gravitated to helping the underdog. He represented trade unions and often took on discrimination cases. His clients included some of the first women to seek redress for sexual harassment in the state of Maine.

Always, John had an affinity for helping our men and women in uniform, the fire fighters and police officers who put their lives on the line for us every day.

In the Legislature

In 1998, John beat an incumbent Republican to win election to the Maine House of Representatives.

As a freshman on the Banking and Insurance Committee, he led the effort to enact a Patient Bill of Rights. The following term, as chair of the Business and Economic Development Committee, he sponsored and wrote the economic development bond bill that passed on the June 2002 ballot. He also led the effort to pass a $12 million affordable housing bond to stimulate affordable housing in Southern and Mid-coast Maine.

He was elected House Majority Leader in the 121st Legislature, where he was the political spokesperson for the House Democratic caucus.

John was elected the 97th Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2005. As Speaker, he worked to fill a $1 billion budget deficit, brokered LD1, a tax reduction measure, and championed the cause of small business by reforming the Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement law. He earned a reputation as a consensus builder - helping to end a long stretch of partisan budget battles with bipartisan agreement on a supplemental spending plan. But he also built and broadened his party's influence, leaving the House with a solid Democratic majority after it came within a couple votes of falling to the opposition.

Committee assignments

• Business and Economic Development (Chair)
• Banking and Insurance
• Rules and Business of the House (Ex Officio)

Commissioner

In 2007, John was named Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development. In his two and one-half years as Commissioner, John worked tirelessly to break down the silos among the various organizations that do economic development in the state, bringing new focus to the regions, and finding links between community development, tourism, innovation and international trade, protecting jobs, and creating new and better jobs across Maine.

He is best known for his cool demeanor in crises, exemplified by his department's immediate response to the Washburn-Doughty fire, which is credited with getting that company back on its feet in less than one year.

It is in this way that John's life has come full circle. A fire that taught him the value of service led him 28 years later to help the victims of another fire. Now John wants to take his fight for Maine people to the Blaine House, where his leadership and dedication to helping others will give all Mainers a chance to stand tall on their own two feet.

Election History

Year	Office	Election		Subject	Party	Votes	%		Opponent	Party	Votes	%
1998	State Representative District 49	General		John Richardson	Democratic	1,351	51.1		Reginald G. Pinkham	Republican	1,294	48.9
2000	State Representative District 49	General		John Richardson	Democratic	2,399	65.6		William J. Donovan	Republican	1,259	34.4
2002	State Representative District 49	General		John Richardson	Democratic	1,884	63.3		Ronald G. Dumont	Republican	1,094	36.7
2004	State Representative District 63	General		John Richardson	Democratic	2,920	61.5		Amy L. Mckenna	Republican	1,827	38.5