Jody Richards

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Jody Richards

Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from the 20th district
Incumbent
Assumed office 1976

Born	February 20, 1938 (1938-02-20) (age 70)
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Neva
Profession	educator, business owner
Religion	Church of Christ

Jody Richards is a Democratic member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, representing the 20th District since 1976 and currently serving as Speaker of the House.

He graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan College with an AB, and earned his MA from the University of Missouri. He served with the US Army Reserve.

Richards, who began his career as a teacher at Western Kentucky University, first ran for office in 1975, when he won the 20th District seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives, a position he holds to this day. While still in his first term, Speaker Richards was called upon to chair the House’s Education Committee. He later played an instrumental part in engineering Kentucky’s sweeping education reforms by chairing one of the committees that helped draft the Kentucky Education Reform Act, and he has shown the same commitment in leadership roles in the Southern Legislative Conference’s Education Committee and the Legislative Advisory Council of the Southern Regional Education Board.

In 1987, Richards was chosen by his Democratic colleagues in the House to serve as their Majority Caucus Chairman, one of the body’s five leadership positions. In 1995, Richards reached the culmination of his nearly two decades of legislative service and leadership by being chosen Speaker of the House.

Richards is the owner of Superior Books, Inc., a wholesale book sales and distribution company in Bowling Green, and is a long-time member of Greenwood Park Church of Christ. He has a son, Roger, a daughter-in-law, Ellen, and a granddaughter, Holly Beth. Richards and his wife, Neva, live in Bowling Green.

Richards for a second time sought the Democratic nomination for Governor of Kentucky in the 2007 election, with John Y. Brown, III, former Kentucky Secretary of State and son of former governor and KFC magnate John Y. Brown, Jr., as his running mate. Richards finished a distant fourth in the primary with just over 45,000 votes (13%), far behind the 142,000 votes (41%) garnered by nominee Steve Beshear.[1] In 2003 Richards ran for Governor of Kentucky on a slate with Tony Miller (Kentucky), losing in the Democratic primary to Ben Chandler and Charlie Owen.