David Richardson (born April 25, 1957) is an American politician who served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives for the 113th district from 2012 to 2018. Richardson was elected as a Miami Beach commissioner in November 2019.
Early life and education
Richardson was born in Houston, Texas, and moved to Florida in 1968, where he attended Lyman High School in Longwood. After graduation, he attended the University of Central Florida, where he first received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology in 1979, then his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree in accountancy in 1983. Afterward, he attended the University of Tampa while working for the United States Department of Defense as an auditor, and received his Master of Business Administration degree in 1987.
In 2015, Richardson completed Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a David Bohnett LGBTQ Victory Institute Leadership Fellow.
Career
After graduating from the University of Tampa, Richardson worked for Ernst & Young as an accountant before starting an advisory services firm.
Florida House of Representatives
In 2012, following the reconfiguration of the state's legislative districts and following the resignation of Representative Richard L. Steinberg due to a harassing text-messages scandal, an open seat was created in the 113th district. Richardson opted to run, and faced Mark Weithorn, the husband of Miami Beach City Commissioner Deede Weithorn; Adam Kravitz, the founder of JDate; and Waldo Faura in the Democratic primary. He received 33% of the vote to Weithorn's 26%, Kravitz's 24%, and Faura's 16%, advancing to the general election, where he was elected unopposed. His victory in the general election, along with the victory of Joe Saunders that same year, allowed both Richardson and Saunders to be the first openly gay members of the state legislature.
When Darryl Rouson, who was set to serve as the Democratic floor leader in the Florida House of Representatives for the 2014-2016 legislative term, created an independent fundraising committee independent of the state party apparatus, Richardson called for Rouson to resign from his position in a letter sent to members of the caucus. Richardson ended up making a motion to vacate Rouson's position, which was seconded and then passed, resulting in a new election for the position.
In 2014, Richardson was re-elected to his second term in the legislature without opposition. In a district that is 60% Hispanic, he received over 64% of the vote in 2016. In 2017, when running for the 2018-2020 leadership of the House minority caucus, he withdrew from the race, recommending that the party pick between two other leading candidates to ensure greater delegation unity.
Richardson filed to run for HD-106 in 2022, attempting a return to the legislature, but after redistricting and entry into races by other candidates, he decided instead to serve out his term on the Miami Beach Commission, where he has served since 2019.
Oversight of state agencies
During the 2013 legislative session, Richardson authored legislation that would appoint an Inspector General to look over the affairs of the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, declaring, "After learning of severe managerial shortcomings at Citizens, including reports of lavish spending on travel, reports of severance packages for employees who had faced abuse charges, and unprofessional behavior of staff, I immediately recognized the need for stronger state oversight."
Richardson made frequent surprise visits over a year and a half to the Gadsden Correctional Facility, which holds over 1,500 women. On his initial visit, he found many of the classrooms without teachers, others without required supplies, and he was determined to return. A 2004 audit, Report Number 2005-61, by the Florida Department of Management Services (DMS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found CCA had been paid $2,850,000 more for Gadsden's facility physical upkeep than it ultimately spent for repairs, and that the state was jointly overcharged by $13 million paid to its contractors, CCA and GEO Group for private prison operations. The Quincy, Florida prison had been taken away from the former Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), now known as CoreCivic, in 2010, after years of mismanagement. Richardson had also discovered that another CoreCivic-operated prison in Florida, the Lake City Correctional Facility, had overcharged Florida by $16 million or more over a seven-year period.