Jon Richards

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title: "Jon Richards" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["democratic-party-members-of-the-wisconsin-state-assembly", "1963-births", "living-people", "politicians-from-milwaukee", "politicians-from-waukesha,-wisconsin", "wisconsin-lawyers", "lawrence-university-alumni", "university-of-wisconsin-law-school-alumni", "keio-university-alumni", "lawyers-from-milwaukee", "wisconsin-circuit-court-judges", "21st-century-members-of-the-wisconsin-legislature", "20th-century-members-of-the-wisconsin-legislature"] description: "American politician" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Richards" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American politician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
honorific-prefix	The Honorable
name	Jon Richards
image	Jon Richards.jpg
office	Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the Milwaukee Circuit, Branch 30
term_start	September 22, 2020
appointer	Tony Evers
predecessor	Jeffrey A. Conen
state1	Wisconsin
state_assembly1	Wisconsin
district1	19th
term_start1	January 5, 1999
term_end1	January 3, 2015
predecessor1	Barbara Notestein
successor1	Jonathan Brostoff
party	Democrat
birth_date
birth_place	Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S.
alma_mater	Lawrence University,
University of Wisconsin–Madison
profession	Attorney
residence	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
spouse	Andrea Rowe Richards
::

|honorific-prefix = The Honorable | name = Jon Richards | image = Jon Richards.jpg | caption = |office = Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the Milwaukee Circuit, Branch 30 | term_start = September 22, 2020 | term_end = | appointer = Tony Evers | predecessor = Jeffrey A. Conen | successor = |state1 = Wisconsin |state_assembly1 = Wisconsin |district1 = 19th | term_start1 = January 5, 1999 | term_end1 = January 3, 2015 | predecessor1 = Barbara Notestein | successor1 = Jonathan Brostoff |party = Democrat | birth_date = | birth_place = Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | alma_mater = Lawrence University, University of Wisconsin–Madison | profession = Attorney | residence = Milwaukee, Wisconsin | spouse = Andrea Rowe Richards | website = Jonathan David Richards (born September 5, 1963) is an American attorney, judge, and Democratic politician. He currently serves as a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Milwaukee County, since his appointment on September 22, 2020, by Governor Tony Evers. He previously represented Milwaukee for 16 years in the Wisconsin State Assembly and was a candidate for Attorney General of Wisconsin in 2014.

Early life and education

Born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Richards graduated from Waukesha North High School. He received his bachelor's degree from Lawrence University and went on to earn his J.D. from University of Wisconsin Law School. He also attended Keio University in Tokyo, Japan. Richards taught English in Japan and volunteered with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India.

Career

Richards has been an attorney for more than 25 years. In 1998 he was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly representing the 19th District for eight terms. He served as Assistant Minority Leader from 2003 to 2007. He also served on the Joint Finance Committee and chaired the Public Health Committee.

In October 2013, Richards announced he would run for Attorney General of Wisconsin rather than running for a ninth term in the Assembly. He came in second in the Democratic primary election of August 2014, with 90,101 votes (33%) to 144,369 (52%) for Susan Happ, who went on to lose the general election in November.

Following the end of his term in the Assembly, Richards joined the Milwaukee law firm Ziino, Germanotta, Knoll & Christensen. He also worked as a volunteer attorney with the Eviction Defense Project as well as for victims of human trafficking through Lotus Legal Clinic, and was director of the Take Back My Meds coalition—which encourages the safe disposal of unused medicines to prevent drug abuse and lake contamination.

On September 22, 2020, Governor Tony Evers announced he had appointed Richards to the Wisconsin Circuit Court seat recently vacated by the resignation of Judge Jeffrey Conen. Judge Richards announced he would seek election to a full term on the court in the 2021 spring election.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1998–2012)

::data[format=table]

Year	Election	Date	Elected	Defeated	Total	Plurality	1998	2000	2002	2004	2006	2008	2010	2012
Primary	Sep. 8	Jon Richards	Democratic	1,921	65.18%	Jim Carpenter	Dem.	534	18.12%	2,947	1,387
Al Campos	Dem.	492	16.69%
General	Nov. 3	Jon Richards	Democratic	10,672	69.94%	Curtis Lamon	Rep.	3,852	25.25%	15,258	6,820
Stephen Latin-Kasper	Ind.	734	4.81%
General	Nov. 7	Jon Richards (inc.)	Democratic	18,722	97.83%	--unopposed--	19,137	18,307
General	Nov. 5	Jon Richards (inc.)	Democratic	12,419	97.90%	12,685	12,153
General	Nov. 5	Jon Richards (inc.)	Democratic	24,344	98.31%	24,762	23,926
General	Nov. 7	Jon Richards (inc.)	Democratic	18,638	98.38%	18,945	18,331
General	Nov. 4	Jon Richards (inc.)	Democratic	25,281	98.52%	25,660	24,902
General	Nov. 2	Jon Richards (inc.)	Democratic	15,123	68.54%	Krista Burns	Rep.	15,123	68.54%	22,064	8,231
General	Nov. 6	Jon Richards (inc.)	Democratic	24,856	97.65%	--unopposed--	25,453	24,259
::

Wisconsin Attorney General (2014)

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| Democratic Primary, August 12, 2014 |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Susan V. Happ |votes = 144,727 |percentage = 52.04% |change = |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Jon Richards |votes = 90,215 |percentage = 32.44% |change = |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Ismael Ozanne |votes = 42,627 |percentage = 15.33% |change = |party = |candidate = Scattering |votes = 564 |percentage = 0.20% |change = |votes = 54,512 |percentage = 19.60% |change = |votes = 278,133 |percentage = 100.0% |change =

Wisconsin Circuit Court (2021)

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, April 6, 2021 |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = Jon Richards (incumbent) |votes = 62,942 |percentage = 99.11% |change = |party = |candidate = Scattering |votes = 567 |percentage = 0.89% |change = |votes = 63,509 |percentage = 100.0% |change =

References

References

1. Richmond, Todd. "Democratic Rep. Jon Richards announces candidacy for Wisconsin attorney general". [[Star Tribune]].
2. "Atty. Jonathan David Richards".
3. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "State of Wisconsin 2013-2014 Blue Book".
4. "Representative Jon Richards - Assembly District 19".
5. Stein, Jason. "Rep. Jon Richards enters race for Wisconsin attorney general". [[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]].
6. (August 13, 2014). "Susan Happ wins Democratic attorney general primary". [[Wisconsin State Journal]].
7. Hall, Dee J.. (November 5, 2014). "Republican Brad Schimel wins race for Wisconsin attorney general". [[Wisconsin State Journal]].
8. "About Judge Richards".
9. Vielmetti, Bruce. (September 22, 2020). "Evers appoints a former legislator and a public defender as judges in Milwaukee County". [[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]].
10. Conley, Alanna. (November 25, 2020). "Judge Jon Richards campaign announcesendorsement of 30 additional judges". Richards for Judge.
11. (1999). "State of Wisconsin 1999-2000 Blue Book". Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau.
12. (May 10, 2001). "Results of Fall General Election - 11/07/2000". Wisconsin State Elections Board.
13. (December 2, 2002). "Results of Fall General Election - 11/05/2002". Wisconsin State Elections Board.
14. (December 1, 2004). "Results of Fall General Election - 11/02/2004". Wisconsin State Elections Board.
15. (December 5, 2006). "Results of Fall General Election - 11/07/2006". Wisconsin State Elections Board.
16. (November 25, 2008). "Results of Fall General Election - 11/04/2008". Wisconsin State Elections Board.
17. (December 1, 2010). "2010 Fall General Election Results Summary.pdf". [[Wisconsin Government Accountability Board]].
18. (December 26, 2012). "Canvass Results for 2012 Presidential and General Election - 11/6/2012". [[Wisconsin Government Accountability Board]].
19. (August 29, 2014). "Canvass Results for 2014 Fall Partisan Primary - 8/12/2014". [[Wisconsin Elections Commission]].
20. (April 22, 2021). "Canvass Results for 2021 Spring Election - 4/6/2021". [[Wisconsin Elections Commission]].

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