Tyrone Richardson, a Democratic candidate for state Labor Commissioner, was in a Wake County courtroom today on a charge of driving while impaired.
He was charged on Dec. 29, 2011. The case was continued to next month.
Richardson would not answer questions after the hearing about this most recent charge or any of his previous charges. This is the fifth time he has been charged with driving while impaired since 1989, according to court records.
In 1989, he was convicted of a lesser charge of reckless driving to endanger. A 1991 DWI charge was dismissed. He was convicted of driving while impaired in 1994. In 1999, he was convicted of reckless driving with wanton disregard for safety and driving with an open container of alcohol after drinking.
Richardson's spokeswoman, Jennifer Jones-Rochelle, was with him in court. She said he would not discuss any of the charges, and maintained they were not related to the campaign.
"Those are two separate things," she said. "Those things will be addressed at the news conference."
A news conference has not been scheduled, but Jones-Rochelle said, "It will be soon."
Richardson, 62, lives in Middlesex. He is making his second run for Labor Commissioner. He ran in the 2008 primary, and came in third out of four candidates.
He is in a three-way primary this year with former Labor Commissioner John C. Brooks and Marlowe Foster.
