William O. Richardson (born June 9, 1955) is an American politician. He was elected to the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

in 2015. A Democrat, he represented the 44th district from 2015 to 2023. He also previously served in the House from 1993 to 1996. He ran for the North Carolina Senate in the

19th 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

district during the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

elections. He lost the general election to

Wesley Meredith Wesley Alan Meredith (born December 22, 1963) is a former Republican senator in the North Carolina General Assembly in the state's nineteenth Senatorial district. In 2018 he lost the election to Democrat Kirk DeViere. The 19th district is made up ...

. Richardson ran for

North Carolina's 8th congressional district North Carolina's eighth congressional district is a United States congressional district that comprises a large portion of the southern Piedmont area of North Carolina from Concord to Spring Lake, including China Grove, Albemarle, Troy, Pin ...

in the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

election. He lost the primary to Chris Kouri. Richardson's unsuccessful defense of Timothy Hennis, who perpetrated the Eastburn family murders, was featured in the CNN documentary series ''Death Row Stories''.

Early life and education

Richardson graduated from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

in 1977 and the

Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law The Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law (also known as Campbell Law School or Campbell University School of Law) is a private law school in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1976, the law school is one of six graduate programs ...

at Campbell University in 1980.

Electoral history

2020

2018

2016

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, William O. 1954 births Living people Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives 21st-century American legislators University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Campbell University alumni 21st-century North Carolina politicians