Hanna, Richard L. (Richard Louis), 1951-2020

Richard Louis Hanna (January 25, 1951 – March 15, 2020) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Representative from New York from 2011 to 2017 representing the 24th and 22nd districts.

Born in Utica, New York and raised in Marcy, New York, he graduated from Whitesboro High School in Marcy before earning a B.A. from Reed College. Following graduation, Hanna returned to New York to start his own construction business called Hanna Construction. In 2008, he challenged incumbent Democrat Mike Arcuri for New York's 24th congressional district, narrowly losing. In a 2010 rematch, Hanna defeated Arcuri.

Hanna was a member of the conservative Republican Study Committee and the centrist Republican Main Street Partnership. He was a member of the LGBT Equality Caucus. Hanna stated his opposition to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He was one of only six House Republicans in the 112th Congress who did not sign Grover Norquist's "Taxpayer Protection Pledge". Hanna was ranked as the 2nd most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress (after Peter T. King) in The Lugar Center and McCourt School of Public Policy's Bipartisan Index. At a rally in support of the Equal Rights Amendment in March 2012, Hanna urged women to donate to Democratic candidates.

In December 2015, Hanna— citing family responsibilities— announced that he did not plan to run for re-election in 2016. On August 2, 2016, Hanna became the first sitting Republican member of Congress to say that he would vote for Hillary Clinton for president over Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. He died of cancer on March 15, 2020.