Overview
Cedric Levan Richmond (born September 13, 1973) is an American attorney, politician, and political advisor who is serving as senior advisor to the Democratic National Committee. Richmond was previously a senior advisor to the president and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement in the Biden administration. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district from 2011 to 2021. His district included most of New Orleans.
From 2017 to 2019, Richmond chaired the Congressional Black Caucus. Beginning with his third term, he was the only Louisiana Democrat serving in either chamber of Congress. He represented New Orleans to the Louisiana State House from 2000 to 2011. In 2019, he was named the first national co-chair of Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign. On September 5, 2020, he was named a co-chair of Biden's presidential transition. On November 17, 2020, Richmond announced he would leave Congress in January 2021 to serve as Senior Advisor to the President and director of the Office of Public Liaison, which Biden renamed the White House Office of Public Engagement.
Early life and education
Richmond was born in New Orleans in 1973 and raised in New Orleans East, where he attended public schools. His father died when he was seven years old. His mother was a public school teacher and small business owner. Richmond graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Morehouse College, and a Juris Doctor from Tulane School of Law. He also completed an executive program at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. While at Morehouse, Richmond played college baseball as a pitcher for the Morehouse Maroon Tigers in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Louisiana legislature
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).