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| preceded=Jess Carr [[J. C. "Sonny" Gilbert​Gilbert]]​

| party = [[Democratic Party|Democrat]]-turned-[[Independent]] (1984)-turned [[Republican Party|Republican]]​​ (1994)

A month after he finished law school, Richey announced his candidacy for the District 21 seat in the state House of Representatives. Incumbent [[J. C. "Sonny" Gilbert ]] of Sicily Island in Catahoula Parish, who would become a state senator, did not seek reelection and supported Richey as his successor. The all-Democratic field included Gilbert's predecessor, the late then Representative David I. Patten, a construction company owner from Harrisonburg in Catahoula Parish, John Young of Jonesville in Catahoula Parish, and [[Troyce Guice]], a Ferriday businessman originally from St. Joseph in Tensas Parish who then resided in the neighborhood near the Richeys. According to Richey, Guice was the preferred candidate of the Concordia Parish sheriff, and Patten was the choice of the Catahoula Parish sheriff. John Young was the preferred candidate of state Senator [[James H. "Jim" Brown]], of Ferriday, a floor leader for Governor [[Edwin Edwards]] and the father of Campbell Brown. Using the slogan "No Strings Attached", Richey ran first in the primary and, with Gilbert's support, defeated Patten in the general election, popularly called the runoff election by a margin of some 57-43 percent.