William O. Richardson
# William O. Richardson

William O. Richardson (born June 9, 1955) is an American politician. He was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2015. A Democrat, he represented the 44th district from 2015 to 2023. He also previously served in the House from 1993 to 1996. He ran for the North Carolina Senate in the 19th district during the 2014 elections. He lost the general election to Wesley Meredith. Richardson ran for North Carolina's 8th congressional district in the 2002 election. He lost the primary to Chris Kouri.

Richardson's unsuccessful defense of Timothy Hennis, who perpetrated the Eastburn family murders, was featured in the CNN documentary series Death Row Stories.

## Early life and education

Richardson graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1977 and the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University in 1980.

## Electoral history

### 2020

North Carolina House of Representatives 44th district Democratic primary election, 2020 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Democratic | Billy Richardson (incumbent) | 5,129 | 52.10% |
| | Democratic | Terry Johnson | 4,715 | 47.90% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 9,844 | 100% |

North Carolina House of Representatives 44th district general election, 2020 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Democratic | Billy Richardson (incumbent) | 25,412 | 71.86% |
| | Republican | Heather S. Holmes | 9,950 | 28.14% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 35,362 | 100% |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### 2018

North Carolina House of Representatives 44th district general election, 2018 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Democratic | Billy Richardson (incumbent) | 13,448 | 56.56% |
| | Republican | Linda Devore | 10,328 | 43.44% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 23,776 | 100% |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### 2016

North Carolina House of Representatives 44th district general election, 2016 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Democratic | Billy Richardson (incumbent) | 15,433 | 50.57% |
| | Republican | Jim Arp | 15,086 | 49.43% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 30,519 | 100% |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |
