Richard Curtis

Richard L. Curtis (born March 8, 1959) is an American firefighter and politician from La Center, Washington. He served as a Republican member of the Washington State House of Representatives from Washington's 18th legislative district in Position 1 from 2005 to 2007. The district is located in rural Clark and Cowlitz counties.

Election and voting record Curtis was elected to the La Center City Council.

He was elected to the State House of Representatives on November 2, 2004, succeeding Republican Tom Mielke. Curtis faced no primary opposition, and won the general election with 56.5 percent of the vote in a race against Democratic candidate Pam Brokaw. He took office in January 2005 and was re-elected in 2006, winning with 59.1 percent of the vote against his Democratic opponent Jonathan Fant.

Curtis, who is married with two daughters, built up a socially conservative voting record while in office. In 2006, he opposed a gay rights bill that banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In spring 2007, he voted against domestic partnerships for gay and lesbian couples. Curtis was also alleged to have been seen previously and on that occasion clad in women's clothing, wearing them underneath his own. The lawyer stated further that "this guy (Castagna) didn't do anything wrong – at that level, anyway."

He resigned from the Washington State House of Representatives on October 31, 2007, and issued a statement: Today I submitted my letter of resignation to Governor Gregoire effective immediately. While I believe we've done some good and helped a lot of people during the time I served in the Legislature, events that have recently come to light have hurt a lot of people. I sincerely apologize for any pain my actions may have caused. This has been damaging to my family, and I don't want to subject them to any additional pain that might result from carrying out this matter under the scrutiny that comes with holding public office.

According to analysis by The Olympian, the Republican leadership in the state moved to attempt to control the damage of Curtis's resignation, issuing statements of their own. State House Republican Leader Richard DeBolt said he was "disappointed" and that Curtis "can no longer effectively represent the constituents who elected him".