Speaker
Richardson was a driving force in enacting comprehensive tort reform
legislation in Georgia in January 2005 and played a key role in working
with legal reform groups months in advance to develop a unified
coalition in support of the proposals. In this interview with FFCJ,
Speaker Richardson describes some of the issues and considerations that
had to be dealt with in successfully passing the final bill through the
House and Senate in Georgia.
He became the first Republican from
Paulding County elected to the Georgia House of Representatives since
Reconstruction in 1996 and received 64 percent of the vote in a
contested primary and 68 percent in a contested General election. In
2003, Governor Sonny Perdue hand picked Glenn to serve as the
Administration Floor Leader in the House and in November 2003, the
Republican Caucus chose Glenn to serve as Minority Leader. He was
elected to his fifth consecutive term in 2004 to represent House
District 19 and played an instrumental role in securing Republican
control of the House for the first time since Reconstruction. Following
the 2004 elections, Glenn was chosen by his colleagues to serve as the
first Republican Speaker of the House in over 130 years.
In
recognition of his service and dedication, the Republican Party of
Georgia named him the 2003 Legislator of the Year. He was also the
recipient of the 2003 American Cancer Society Capitol Dome Award. The
March of Dimes recognized Glenn “for providing extraordinary leadership
in passing legislation to reduce the number of premature births in
Georgia.”
He was born in Douglas County, Georgia,
where he graduated from Douglas County High School in 1978 and began his
political career as Vice-President of his Senior Class. In 1981, Glenn
earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Georgia State
University and was a member of Georgia State University’s first law
school class earning his Juris Doctor in 1984.
In 1985, Glenn joined the firm of Vinson
& Osborne and made partner two years later. Now known as Vinson, Talley,
Richardson & Cable, Glenn continues to practice with the same firm. In
1989, he was appointed to serve as County Attorney for Paulding County
and is currently serving in his 16th year.
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