Laura Richardson (born April 14, 1962) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2013. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She previously represented the 55th district in the California State Assembly for the 2007 term until she was elected to the House of Representatives for in a special election on August 21, 2007, to fill the vacancy resulting from the death of Juanita Millender-McDonald. She was reelected to represent that district in 2008 and 2010. Following the decennial reorganization of Congressional districts in 2012, most of Richardson's territory became the 44th District. She ran against fellow Democratic Congresswoman Janice Hahn in the 2012 Congressional elections cycle. On November 6, 2012, she was defeated in her bid for re-election by Representative Hahn by a landslide 20 percentage points. Background Richardson was born in Los Angeles and lives in Long Beach. She was raised by a single mother after her parents divorced when she was two. Her father was a member of the Teamsters. Her father was black and her mother was white. Richardson has said that racism against their mixed-race family was "what got me since the age of about six of wanting to be a public servant." Richardson was previously married to Long Beach Police Chief Anthony Batts. During the marriage, she took the name Laura Richardson-Batts. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1984. In 1987, she joined Xerox Corporation, where she worked for 14 years. In 1996, Richardson received her MBA from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business. Early political career Richardson served on the Long Beach City Council from 2000 to 2006. In 2004, Richardson won a second term outright on the first ballot. As a councilwoman, she made statements that her priorities included neighborhood improvement, public safety, attracting jobs and businesses to the cities’ central corridors, job training programs for adults, after-school programs for youth and expanding senior programs. Richardson established the Sixth District Master Plan, a strategic guideline for development in the area. Other significant accomplishments during her council tenure include securing the first funding for alley maintenance by the city of Long Beach, initiating the planning process for a Senior Transportation Program in the Central Area of Long Beach. While serving on the city council, Richardson joined the staff of Lieutenant Governor Cruz