Generally, a successful candidate and administrator, Richardson was a member of the Democratic Party, serving as the Representative from the newly established 3rd congressional district in New Mexico, from 1983 to 1997, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 1997 to 1998, and as the U.S. Secretary of Energy, from 1998 to 2001. Richardson returned to state office, serving as the 30th Governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. He ran unsuccessfully for U.S. president in 2008. He also served as the chairman for the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and chair of the Democratic Governors Association.

Congressional races (1980–1996) New Mexico's 1st congressional district, 1980:Our Campaigns – NM District 01 Race – Nov 4, 1980 Manuel Lujan, Jr. (R) (inc.) – 125,910 (51.01%) Bill Richardson – 120,903 (48.99%)

New Mexico's 3rd congressional district, 1982 (Democratic primary):Our Campaigns – NM District 03 – D Primary Race – Jun 8, 1982 Bill Richardson – 23,123 (36.22%) Roberto A. Mondragon – 19,691 (30.84%) George Perez – 12,412 (19.44%) Tom Udall – 8,619 (13.50%)

New Mexico's 3rd congressional district, 1982:Our Campaigns – NM District 03 Race – Nov 2, 1982 Bill Richardson (D) – 84,669 (64.49%) Marjorie Bell Chambers (R) – 46,466 (35.39%) David A. Fernandez (I) – 158 (0.12%)

New Mexico's 3rd congressional district, 1984:Our Campaigns – NM District 03 Race – Nov 6, 1984 Bill Richardson (D) (inc.) – 100,470 (60.81%) Louis H. Gallegos (R) – 62,351 (37.74%) Shirley Machocky Jones (LBT) – 2,388 (1.45%)

New Mexico's 3rd congressional district, 1986:Our Campaigns – NM District 03 Race – Nov 4, 1986 Bill Richardson (D) (inc.) – 95,760 (71.30%) David F. Cargo (R) – 38,552 (28.70%)

New Mexico's 3rd congressional district, 1988:Our Campaigns – NM District 03 Race – Nov 8, 1988 Bill Richardson (D) (inc.) – 124,938 (73.11%) Cecilia M. Salazar (R) – 45,954 (26.89%)

New Mexico's 3rd congressional district, 1990:Our Campaigns – NM District 03 Race – Nov 6, 1990 Bill Richardson (D) (inc.) – 104,225 (74.46%) Phil T. Archuletta (R) – 35,751 (25.54%)

New Mexico's 3rd congressional district, 1992:Our Campaigns – NM District 3 Race – Nov 3, 1992 Bill Richardson (D) (inc.) – 122,850 (67.42%) F. Gregg Bemis, Jr. (R) – 54,569 (29.95%) Ed Nagel (LBT) – 4,798 (2.63%)

New Mexico's 3rd congressional district, 1994:Our Campaigns – NM District 03 Race – Nov 8, 1994 Bill Richardson (D) (inc,) – 99,900 (63.59%) F. Gregg Bemis, Jr. (R) – 53,515 (34.06%) Ed Nagel (LBT) – 3,697 (2.35%)

New Mexico's 3rd congressional district, 1996:Our Campaigns – NM District 03 Race – Nov 5, 1996 Bill Richardson (D) (inc.) – 124,594 (67.25%) Bill Redmond (R) – 56,580 (30.54%) Ed Nagel (LBT) – 4,097 (2.21%)

Administration appointments (1996–2001) United States Ambassador to the United Nations, 1997 (confirmation in the United States Senate):U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote Yea – 100 Nay – 0

United States Secretary of Energy, 1998 (confirmation in the United States Senate):Our Campaigns – US Secretary of Energy Race – Jul 31, 1998 Yea – 100 Nay – 0

New Mexico gubernatorial races (2002–2006) Democratic primary for Governor of New Mexico, 2002:Our Campaigns – NM Governor – D Primary Race – Jun 4, 2002 Bill Richardson – 147,524 (99.80%) Mike Nalley (write-in) – 294 (0.20%)

New Mexico gubernatorial election, 2002:Our Campaigns – NM – Governor Race – Nov 5, 2002 Bill Richardson/Diane Denish (D) – 268,693 (55.49%) John Sanchez/Rod Adair (R) – 189,074 (39.05%) David Bacon/Kathleen M. Sanchez (Green) – 26,466 (5.47%)

Democratic primary for Governor of New Mexico, 2006:Our Campaigns – NM Governor – D Primary Race – Jun 6, 2006 Bill Richardson (inc.) – 107,720 (99.64%) Anselmo A. Chavez (write-in) – 388 (0.36%)

New Mexico gubernatorial election, 2006:Our Campaigns – NM Governor Race – Nov 7, 2006 Bill Richardson/Diane Denish (D) (inc.) – 384,806 (68.82%) John Dendahl/Sue Wilson Beffort (R) – 174,364 (31.18%)

United States presidential election, 2008 2008 New Hampshire Democratic vice presidential primary:Our Campaigns – NH US Vice President – D Primary Race – Jan 8, 2008 Raymond Stebbins – 50,485 (46.93%) William Bryk – 22,965 (21.35%) John Edwards* – 10,553 (9.81%) Barack Obama* 6,402 (5.95%) Bill Richardson* (write-in) – 5,525 (5.14%) Hillary Clinton* (write-in) – 3,419 (3.18%) Joe Biden* – 1,512 (1.41%) Al Gore* – 966 (0.90%) Dennis Kucinich* – 762 (0.71%) Bill Clinton* – 388 (0.36%) John McCain* – 293 (0.27%) Christopher Dodd* – 224 (0.21%) Ron Paul* – 176 (0.16%) Jack Barnes, Jr.* – 95 (0.09%) Mike Gravel* – 91 (0.09%) Joe Lieberman* – 67 (0.06%) Mitt Romney* – 66 (0.06%) Mike Huckabee* – 63 (0.06%) Rudy Giuliani* – 46 (0.04%) Darrel Hunter* – 20 (0.02%)

(* – write-in)

2008 Democratic presidential primaries:Our Campaigns – US President – D Primary Race – Jan 3, 2008

Excluding penalized contests, only primary and caucuses votes:

Barack ObamaPN – 16,706,853 Hillary Clinton – 16,239,821 John Edwards* – 742,010 Bill Richardson* – 89,054 Uncommitted – 82,660 Dennis Kucinich* – 68,482 Joe Biden* – 64,041 Mike Gravel* – 27,662 Christopher Dodd* – 25,300 Others – 22,556

Including penalized contests:

Hillary Clinton – 18,225,175 (48.03%) Barack ObamaPN – 17,988,182 (47.41%) John Edwards* – 1,006,275 (2.65%) Uncommitted – 299,610 (0.79%) Bill Richardson* – 106,073 (0.28%) Dennis Kucinich* – 103,994 (0.27%) Joe Biden* – 81,641 (0.22%) Scattering – 44,348 (0.12%) Mike Gravel* – 40,251 (0.11%) Christopher Dodd* – 35,281 (0.09%)

(* – dropped out from race)(PN – presumptive nominee)

References