Download official campaign photo here.

Read Keith’s Campaign Annoucement here.

Watch Keith’s Announcement here.

Keith Richardson has never held ambitions to seek or hold political office. His entrance to the 5th Congressional District’s Republican Primary is a response to the need for a qualified standard-bearer for fiscal responsibility and family-affirming public policies. Keith’s campaign is a call for a renewed emphasis on statesmanship and servant leadership in government – a direct challenge to the status quo in Washington, D.C.

The grandson of a Depression-era farmer in the Deep South, Keith grew up in a working class military family in Georgia. Raised in a family of four boys, he began working at age fifteen as a Bi-Lo bag boy.

Keith worked his way through college, graduating Cum Laude from Georgia State University’s Honors Program in 1986. Two years later, with support from his wife Debi’s small typesetting and graphic design business, he earned a law degree from Georgia State’s College of Law. His law school years included Law Review coverage of Georgia’s State Legislature and an internship with a Supreme Court justice.

For the immediate years that followed, Keith conducted trials and appeared before State and Federal Appellate Courts defending individuals against lawsuits. It was during this period that he developed a firsthand understanding of the need for sweeping reforms of the legal system. Years later, he would take his passion for the law to the classroom as an adjunct professor, teaching both Constitutional Law and Ethics.

Keith left a successful law firm to accept the call to lead a small country church. During this period he would earn his Master of Divinity from Erskine Theological Seminary. Despite the pay cut and the sacrifices, Keith and Debi count these years of service among the most wonderful of their married life.

Keith is currently serving in his second pastorate at the First Baptist Church of Clarion, where in addition to his pulpit and counseling ministries, he leads the congregation’s outreach to Clarion University’s college community.

Of Keith and Debi’s nine children, seven have been adopted from broken or abusive homes. The Richardson family loves small town life in their home in downtown Clarion. A firm believer in the Founders’ vision of a citizen legislature, Keith is committed to returning to his life’s work after any period of service in Congress. He and Debi have no intention or desire of making politics a lifelong career move.