Richard B. Chess
American politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard Bruce Chess (born December 20, 1953, Pennsylvania) is an American lawyer and politician who was a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1979-1980.[1] Since leaving political office, he has worked as an attorney specializing in real estate law in Richmond, Virginia.[2] He currently has his own law firm in that city.
Richard B. Chess | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 27th district | |
| In office 1979–1980 | |
| Preceded by | Robert A. Geisler |
| Succeeded by | Thomas C. Petrone |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 20, 1953 Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
Life and career
The son of George Findley Chess and Mary Danyla, Richard "Rick" Bruce Chess was born in Pennsylvania on December 20, 1953.[3] He was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and graduated from both Langley High School and the University of Pittsburgh.[4] He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Richmond School of Law in 1976.[5][6] He served in the United States Marines, and then worked as a local government attorney in Pittsburgh.[4] In 1977 he was head of Allegheny County's Consumer Affairs office,[7] and in 1978 he was appointed head of Allegheny County's Bureau of Weights and Measures.[8]
In 1974 he was a Democratic Party candidate for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 27 which he lost in the primary election to Robert Geisler.[9][10] He lost to Geisler again in the 1976 election for the same office but won the election for that position in the November 1978 election.[11] During his two year tenure he served on the House Agriculture Committee.[2]
In 1980, at the age of 26, Chess ran against Bob Casey Sr. for the post of Treasurer of Pennsylvania;[12] a decision which angered the Democratic Party in Allegheny County and ultimately led to the party withdrawing there future support for re-election in the House of Representative.[13] In 1981 he married Diane Dolan in Richmond, Virginia.[3] At that time he was vice president of the Metropolitan Richmond Chamber of Commerce and executive director of the Virginia State Chamber of Commerce's Private Industry Council.[6] He had previously served as the president of the Local Government Attorneys of Virginia.[6] In 1984 he was elected vice president of the Richmond Community Action Program.[14]
In 1985 he announced his candidacy for Virginia's 71st House of Delegates district to replace Benjamin Lambert who left his post after winning a seat in the Virginia Senate.[15] He ran as an independent,[16] and lost to Jean Wooden Cunningham.[17] After this he worked as a lawyer in Richmond and as both vice president and acquisitions director for the United Dominion Realty Trust (UDRT).[18][19][20] In 1993 he moved to Midlothian, Virginia.[2] In 1997 he announced his candidacy for the post of director of the James River Soil and Water Conservation District;[2] an election he lost.[21] In 1998 he left his post at UDRT to become director of institutional services in the Richmond division of the law firm of Goodman Segar Hogan Hoffler.[22] In 2000 he joined the legal team of the broadband company Winstar Communications.[23] In 2008 he was president of the Richmond Association for Business Economics,[24] and in 2009 he served as president of the American Realty Capital Markets LLC.[25]