Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

Former candidate has history of public service, may not be done in politics

By Susan M. Cover scover@mainetoday.com
State House Bureau

AUGUSTA -- As Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, John Richardson presided over a closely divided House, where Democrats held a razor-thin majority.

During that period from 2005 to 2006, Assistant Majority Leader Bob Duplessie, D-Westbrook, worked with Richardson as a member of the majority.

"John was very good at getting people to come to a common goal," said Duplessie, who now works for the state Department of Conservation. "He was able to bring parties together. He had a real knack for that."

Richardson, 52, was first elected to the House in 1998 after defeating an incumbent Republican -- again by a razor-thin margin, with 51 percent of the vote.

He went on to serve eight years, the last two as speaker.

Despite his decision Monday to drop out of the race for governor, those who know him say it may not spell the end of Richardson's political career.

"I think he's certainly a tenacious campaigner," said House Minority Leader Josh Tardy, R-Newport, who served with Richardson. "He's very bright. He's got the interest of the state of Maine in mind. I don't think he should foreclose as an option a run for office in the future."

As part of his campaign for governor, Richardson pointed to a life-changing event when he was 19 that drove him to pursue a career in public service.

Richardson was a volunteer at the Riverdale Heights Volunteer Fire Department in Maryland, where his dad was chief, when he was badly burned in a fire.

He was 19.

"We were told people were trapped," Richardson said in a campaign video posted on his Web site. "I began to do search and rescue, and I couldn't find anyone."

When he left the building, he told his father he had been burned.

He was injured so badly, he was hospitalized for four months and needed seven surgeries.

"It was here that he benefited from the social safety net and realized that, sometimes, when people get knocked down, they need help getting back up on their feet," it says in the biographical section of his campaign Web site.

After that, Richardson graduated from the University of Maryland and got a job as an accountant. In 1989, he graduated from Creighton University School of Law.

Richardson and his wife, Dr. Stephanie Grohs, moved to Brunswick to settle and raise a family. Richardson had ties to Maine and spent time in Springfield as a boy.

On the campaign trail, he often mentioned his Maine grandmother, who was a teacher; and his grandfather, "who drove logs down the Penobscot."

Richardson joined the Portland law firm of Troubh, Heisler and Piampiano and, in 1998, won his race for the House.

His legislative service includes work on the Banking and Insurance Committee, and the Business, Research and Economic Development Committee before he became majority leader in 2003. Two years later, he was selected by fellow lawmakers as speaker.

Ross Paradis, a former Democratic representative from Frenchville who served with Richardson, said he gathered approximately 300 Clean Election contributions to help with the campaign.

He said he did not gather checks in the Fort Kent area, which is where some problems were uncovered.

"We're really saddened by the whole thing," he said. "John was the best candidate in the Democratic field, if not the whole field."

After his time as speaker, Richardson was appointed in 2007 by Gov. John Baldacci to serve as commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

He left that post in November 2009 to run for governor.

Tardy said that, with only six weeks left until the primary, Richardson must have known that it wasn't feasible to turn to private fundraising to continue his campaign.

Also, questions about what went wrong with the public-financing bid would have followed him throughout the rest of the race, Tardy said.

"I think he certainly has a commendable public service record," Tardy said. "I always found him to be great to work with."

Susan Cover -- 620-7015

scover@centralmaine.com