In addition to congressional races, Virginia’s capital city was also electing a mayor yesterday. The dramatic race had sparked nation-wide headlines because the leading candidate was disgraced former lawmaker Joe Morrissey.
But Morrissey, widely known for having an affair with his 17-year-old-secretary, lost that race yesterday.
His unexpected loss could partly be due to late-breaking scandal last week.
Related: More Morrissey News Continues to Shake Up Richmond Mayoral Race
It is still unclear who has won the race though. As of early Wednesday morning, absentee ballots still had to be counted.
Richmond’s mayoral race is not just a popular election — candidates have to win five of the city’s nine districts. It is not yet clear if any candidate has met that threshold.
If no one candidate does, then there will be a run-off election in December between the top-two candidates city-wide. Morrissey did not make that cut, placing a distant third in the popular vote behind former Secretary of the Commonwealth Levar Stoney and local community leader Jack Berry.
Stoney is 35 and a graduate of James Madison University. He served as Secretary of the Commonwealth under Terry McAuliffe and was strongly supported by the state’s Democratic party. His campaign struck a celebratory note Tuesday night.
"I’ve always promised that I will be a mayor that listens to all of us, listens to the city, the citizens of Richmond, that will put the children of the city first, and that will unite the city," said Stoney.
At a gathering full of supporters in downtown Richmond, Stoney stressed his campaign's positive energy.
“We’ve been able to put together a coalition not only to win, but to also govern," he said. "A coalition that looks like us. A coalition that allows us to ensure that every voice no matter where you live in this city is at the table.”
Jack Berry didn't concede the race. At his own gathering, supporters celebrated the local who has long served as Executive Director of Venture Richmond.
"We decided that at 11:30 we couldn’t wait any longer to see what the final answer would be," said Berry to the crowd. "So we decided to just come down and just tell you. We don’t know what the answer is! We don’t know where it stands! And nobody knows, there's still precincts that are being counted, there are still absentee ballots that are being counted. It looks like we’re heading to a run-off in which case we’re going to gear up again and do this for December 20th."