Richard Williams (November 15, 1836 – June 19, 1914) was an American lawyer and politician in the state of Oregon.

A Republican, he was the United States Congressman representing Oregon's at large congressional district for one term from 1877 to 1879.

[1] The following year he returned to Oregon and practiced law in Kerbyville in Josephine County, followed by Corvallis in 1860, and Salem in 1862.

La Dow and, due to a split in the Republican party, also faced Timothy W. Davenport, who ran as an Independent.

Davenport, one of the founders of the Oregon Republican party, and father of political cartoonist Homer Davenport, debated Williams throughout the state, with the result that the Republican vote was split and La Dow won the election by a narrow plurality.