Richardson then became a staff member for then-Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Calif.), who represented parts of Los Angeles County. In 2000, Richardson was elected to the City Council of Long Beach, California's 5th largest city with a population that nears the half million mark.

Richardson, who represented a poor area with large Hispanic and Cambodian populations, worked to bring in simple amenities like drug stores and libraries. She supplemented that role by working as the Southern California director for California Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante (D).

In 2006, Richardson ran successfully for a seat in California's Assembly. But she was there for just four months when her former boss, Rep. Millender-McDonald, died in April 2007.

2007 House Special Election.

Richarsdon faced off with state Senator Jenny Oropeza (D) in California's 37th district in a fight for a seat that was becoming increasingly Hispanic. However, African-Americans still outnumbered Latinos among registered voters.

Oropeza nabbed the support of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, while Richardson got the nod from the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington.

On an Election Day marked by a turnout of just 11 percent, Richardson received 38 percent - just over 11,000 votes - with Oropeza coming in at 31 percent. In this heavily Democratic district, the general election was not competitive.

Ethics

Upon joining Congress, Richardson was plagued by financial troubles and a series of problems surrounding her housing situation.

After her Sacramento house was foreclosed on and sold in a May 2008 auction, reports emerged that Richardson had fallen behind on mortgage payment previously, having defaulted five times over 13 months on three different homes. The Los Angeles Times further reported that Richardson had loaned her legislative and congressional campaigns $177,500 during the same period, more than twice the total amount of her five defaulted payments.

But in early June 2008, just weeks after the foreclosed house had been auctioned, Washington Mutual decided to take it back and return it to Richardson. This awoke the interest of the House ethics committee, which launched an investigation into whether the congresswoman had received preferential treatment.

In July 2010, the committee unanimously cleared Richardson of wrongdoing. Besides ruling she "did not receive an improper gift or other benefit" and she had been a "victim of mortgage fraud," it found the bank had "mistakenly" allowed the sale despite telling Richardson it had put a hold on the foreclosure to renegotiate her loans.

But there was yet another problem with Richardson's Sacramento house: After the congresswoman let the house fall into disrepair, letting weeds grow and rodents infest the backyard, neighbors took action by complaining to the House Democratic leadership and local authorities. In August 2008, the Code Enforcement Department in Sacramento declared the home "a public nuisance".

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