Richard Gebhardt (May18, 1931February13, 2017) was an American politician. He served as a Democratic member of the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distri ...

Life and career

Gebhardt was born in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. He attended the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

Elections

In 1960, Gebhardt ran for District 5 in the

Colorado Senate The Colorado State Senate is the upper house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Colorado. It is composed of 35 members elected from single-member districts, with each district having a population of abou ...

. He won the Democratic primary election, but in the general election he was defeated by A. Woody Hewett. In 1964, Gebhardt ran to represent District 40 (Boulder County) in the Colorado House of Representatives. He was elected and took office in January 1965. In 1966, redistricting put Gebhardt in House District 7. He was re-elected and began representing the district in 1967. In 1968, Gebhardt sought election to House District 41, again following a redistricting. In the general election, he was defeated by Sandy Arnold. In 1970, Gebhardt sought election to

Colorado's 2nd congressional district Colorado's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Colorado. The district is located in the north-central part of the state, and encompasses the Front Range northwest of Denver metropolitan area, Denver, mai ...

. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary election but lost to

Donald G. Brotzman Donald Glenn Brotzman (June 28, 1922 – September 15, 2004) was a U.S. Representative from Colorado. As of 2025, he remains the last republican to have represented Colorado's 2nd district in the House of Representatives. History Brotzman was bo ...

in the general election.

Death

Gebhardt died on February 13, 2017, at the age of 85.

References

1931 births 2017 deaths Politicians from Boulder, Colorado Democratic Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives University of Colorado Boulder alumni 20th-century members of the Colorado General Assembly {{Colorado-politician-stub