#Former UN Ambassador, New Mexico governor, Bill Richardson dies at 75 

Bill Richardson, the former Democratic governor of New Mexico, has died at the age of 75, according to The Associated Press. 

“He lived his entire life in the service of others — including both his time in government and his subsequent career helping to free people held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad,” Mickey Bergman, the The Richardson Center for Global Engagement’s vice president, told The AP. “There was no person that Gov. Richardson would not speak with if it held the promise of returning a person to freedom. The world has lost a champion for those held unjustly abroad and I have lost a mentor and a dear friend.”

The AP also reported that The Richardson Center said the former governor died in his sleep at his home in Chatham, Massachusetts in a statement. Richardson was elected as New Mexico’s governor in 2002 and served two terms. 

Before he was a governor, he was U.N. ambassador and energy secretary under former President Bill Clinton and served 14 years as a congressman representing a district in New Mexico. In his post-politician days, he worked to free Americans detained overseas. 

The Hill has reached out to The Richardson Center for Global Engagement for comment.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.