Richards was the second female governor of Texas (the first being Miriam A. Ferguson), and was frequently noted in the media for her outspoken feminism and her one-liners.

Robert Cecil Willis was a pharmaceutical salesman who served in World War II and Mildred Iona Warren was a homemaker.

After marrying her high school sweetheart David "Dave" Richards, she moved to Austin, where she earned a teaching certificate from the University of Texas.

Cecile died of glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer that is incurable and has a survival rate of 12 to 18 months, on January 20, 2025.

She campaigned for Texas liberals and progressives, such as Henry B. Gonzalez, Ralph Yarborough, and future U.S. District Judge Sarah T. Hughes.

After incumbent Texas State Treasurer Warren G. Harding (no relation to the U.S. president) became mired in legal troubles in 1982, Richards won the Democratic nomination for that post.

[citation needed] At the 1984 Democratic National Convention, Richards delivered one of the nominating speeches for nominee Walter Mondale, and she campaigned actively for the Mondale/Ferraro ticket in Texas, even though President Ronald Reagan enjoyed great popularity in her state.

Richards painted herself as a sensible progressive and won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination against Attorney General (and former U.S. representative) Jim Mattox of Dallas and former Governor Mark White of Houston.

The Republicans nominated colorful and eccentric multi-millionaire rancher Clayton Williams, of Fort Stockton and Midland.

Republican political activist Susan Weddington of San Antonio, a Williams supporter, placed a black wreath that read "Death to the Family" at the door of Richards's campaign headquarters in Austin.

[7] Libertarian Party nominee Jeff Daiell drew 3.3 percent in an effort that included television spots and considerable personal campaigning.

Richards also sought to decentralize control over education policy to districts and individual campuses; she instituted "site-based management" to this end.

Richards and Cuomo appeared in a series of humorous television commercials for the snack food Doritos[16] shortly afterward, in which they discussed the "sweeping changes" occurring.

From 1995 to 2001, Richards was also a senior advisor with Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand[broken anchor], a Washington, D.C.–based international law firm.

Richards later stumped for Democratic nominee John Kerry,[20] highlighting the issues of health care and women's rights.

Some political pundits mentioned her as a potential running mate to Kerry; however, she did not make his list of top finalists, and he selected North Carolina Senator John Edwards.

In 1998 she was elected as a trustee of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, she was reelected in 2004, and continued to hold the position until her death.

In 2004, she co-authored I'm Not Slowing Down, with the gynaecologist Richard U. Levine, which describes her own battle with osteoporosis and offers guidance to others with the disease.

The school opened on August 27, 2007, with a goal to educate and empower young women, grades 6-12, while creating opportunities for them that may not have otherwise presented themselves.

With Richards' vision, so many young women who came from disadvantaged backgrounds now had an opportunity and the confidence to pursue their college education and careers.

Her longtime personal interest in Texas film and music greatly raised the public profile of both industries and brought the two programs into the Governor's Office.

Another being the Maurice N. Eisendrath Bearer of Light Award from the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and finally the Texas Women's Hall of Fame honoree for Public Service.

[28] She said that she wanted to convey a message that "just because something tragic and life altering may happen, that doesn't mean we're supposed to turn heel and run away."

[29] Alcohol and tobacco exposure are major risk factors for certain types of esophageal cancer; by her own admission, Richards said that she "smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish" in her younger years.

Wildenthal added that vetoing the legislation would have resulted in the existing sodomy law remaining in force while sacrificing many other unrelated progressive improvements in the code.

In 2001, Richards made a cameo appearance in a fifth-season episode of the Texas-based animated TV series King of the Hill.

[citation needed] She is also seen in the closing credits of King of the Hill Season 1 Episode 4, playing tether ball with Willie Nelson's roadie.

Richards was a topic in the film Bush's Brain (by Joseph Mealey and Michael Shoob), in a segment regarding her defeat in the 1994 election for Texas governor.

[37] Richards was one of the characters portrayed by Anna Deavere Smith in her play, Let Me Down Easy, which explores illness, death, and the healthcare system.

The show opened in 2008, played in cities around the country, and was featured as part of PBS's Great Performances series on January 13, 2012.