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| image=Dan Richey of LA.jpg| office=[[Louisiana]] State Representative<br> for Catahoula, Concordia, <br> and Tensas parishes

|religion=[[Roman Catholic]]​​|alma_mater=Ferriday High School<br>​

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, 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.

In 1983, Richey was unseated by state Representative William B. "Billy" Atkins of Jonesville, when the Democrat Edwin Edwards scored a landslide over incumbent Republican Governor [[David C. Treen]]. Atkins had also succeeded Richey in the state House four years earlier. Atkins was succeeded in the House by the later Louisiana Secretary of State, [[Al Ater]], also of Ferriday. Richey said that his close identification with Treen worked against him. Atkins was the choice of powerful Louisiana [[AFL-CIO]] President [[Victor Bussie]]. "Like my colleague from Alexandria, [[Ned Randolph []] (later the mayor]of Alexandria from 1986 to 2006), we were ousted in the Edwards wave of 1983. I lost by about the same margin that I had won on the two previous occasions, 57-43 percent," Richey explained.

In his freshman year in the legislature, Richey served on the Louisiana House Civil Law Committee that voted "unfavorably" on the unratified [[Equal Rights Amendment]]. ERA critics saw the measure as a "federal power grab" that would increase the discretionary powers of federal judges and set aside state laws in regard to the family. Richey worked behind the scenes to convince four fellow committee members - [[Jock Scott]] of Alexandria, [[Michael F. Thompson]] of [[Lafayette]], [[A. J. McNamara|A. J. "Buddy" McNamara ]] of Metairie in Jefferson Parish, and [[Lane Carson|Lane Anderson Carson ]] of New Orleans - to withdraw their earlier support for the ERA. The surprise turnaround of the four members, all of whom later switched to Republican affiliation, killed ERA ratification prospects in Louisiana, much to the consternation of feminist backers of the proposed amendment as well as House Speaker [[E. L. "Bubba" Henry]] of Jonesboro in Jackson Parish, who thought that he had placed sufficient ERA supporters on the committee.

Jenkins, Richey, Scott, Carson, and Representatives [[B. F. O'Neal, Jr.|Benjamin Franklin O'Neal, Jr. (1922-2004)]], of Shreveport and [[E. Clark Gaudin]] of Baton Rouge formed the Independent Legislative Study Group, an informal mix of conservatives who met daily when the House was in session or when important business was pending before committees. "The ILSG enabled us to maximize our fire power against the Edwards machine. We seldom won, but had a good time setting small fires all over the place," Richey recalled.

 6. "Mary Lou Trawick Winters," ''The [[Monroe News-Star]],'' Retrieved November 20, 2014.<br> 

 8. Leo Honeycutt, ''Edwin Edwards: Governor of Louisiana,'' Lisburn Press, 2009, p.&nbsp;191.<br>