Walter Demaree "Jody" Richards Jr. (born February 20, 1938) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

from 1976 until 2019. He is the longest serving Speaker of the House in the history of the Kentucky legislature, having served from 1994 to 2008, a total of 14 years. Richards represented Kentucky's 20th District.

Biography

Richards graduated from Adair County High School,

Kentucky Wesleyan College Kentucky Wesleyan College (KWC) is a private Methodist college in Owensboro, Kentucky. Fall 2018 enrollment was 830 students. History Kentucky Wesleyan College was founded in 1858 by the Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It ...

with an AB in 1960, and a masters in journalism from the

Missouri School of Journalism The Missouri School of Journalism, housed under the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, Columbia, is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in of journalis ...

in 1962. He served with the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

and the

Kentucky National Guard The Kentucky National Guard comprises the: * Kentucky Army National Guard * Kentucky Air National Guard See also * Kentucky Active Militia, the state defense force of Kentucky which replaced the Kentucky National Guard during World War I and Worl ...

from 1962 to 1968. Richards, who began his career as a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a few decades earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glas ...

, first ran for office in 1975, when he won the 20th District seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives. While still in his first term, Speaker Richards was called upon to chair the House's Education Committee. He later played an instrumental part in engineering Kentucky's sweeping education reforms by chairing one of the committees that helped draft the

Kentucky Education Reform Act Education in Kentucky includes elementary school (kindergarten through fifth grade in most areas), middle school (or junior high, sixth grade through eighth grade in most locations), high school (ninth through twelfth grade in most locations), a ...

, and he has shown the same commitment in leadership roles in the Southern Legislative Conference's Education Committee and the Legislative Advisory Council of the

Southern Regional Education Board The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, that works to improve education at every level in its 16 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, M ...

. In 1987, Richards was chosen by his Democratic colleagues in the House to serve as their Majority Caucus Chairman, one of the body's five leadership positions. In 1995, Richards was elected the Speaker of the Kentucky House. On January 6, 2009, Richards, was defeated by Greg Stumbo in the internal election for the position of Speaker of the House. In 2003 Richards ran for Governor of Kentucky on a slate with Tony Miller (Kentucky), losing in the Democratic primary to

Ben Chandler Albert Benjamin Chandler III (born September 12, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, United States representative for from 2004 to 2013. A United States Democratic Party, Democrat, ...

and Charlie Owen. Richards again sought the Democratic nomination for

Governor of Kentucky The governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Kentucky. Sixty-two men and one woman have served as governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; sinc ...

in the 2007 election, with John Y. Brown III, former

Kentucky Secretary of State The secretary of state of Kentucky is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is now an elected office, but was an appointed office prior to 1891. The current secretary of state is Republican Party (United States), Re ...

and son of former governor and

KFC KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

John Y. Brown Jr., as his running mate. Richards finished a distant fourth in the primary with just over 45,000 votes (13%), far behind the 142,000 votes (41%) garnered by nominee

Steve Beshear Steven Lynn Beshear ( ; born September 21, 1944) is an American attorney and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 61st governor of Kentucky from 2007 to 2015. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1974 ...

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Personal life

Richards is the owner of Superior Books, Inc., a wholesale book sales and distribution company in Bowling Green, and is a long-time member of Greenwood Park Church of Christ. He has a son, Roger, a daughter-in-law, Ellen, and a granddaughter, Holly Beth. Richards and his wife, Neva, live in

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

References

External links

Kentucky Legislature - Representative Jody Richards
official government website
Project Vote Smart - Jody Richards (KY)
profile
Archived 2007 campaign website
*''Follow the Money'' - Jody Richards
2006200420022000199819961994
campaign contributions , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Jody 1938 births Living people Speakers of the Kentucky House of Representatives Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Kentucky National Guard personnel Kentucky Wesleyan College alumni American members of the Churches of Christ Politicians from Bowling Green, Kentucky People from Adair County, Kentucky Western Kentucky University faculty Missouri School of Journalism alumni United States Army soldiers United States Army reservists 21st-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly 20th-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly