Levar Stoney was most recently Virginia's first African-American Secretary of the Commonwealth. But he's made the switch from state to local politics -- and now, at 35, he's just been elected as Richmond's youngest mayor.
But he's not a native to the city. Stoney grew up in Norfolk. He was raised by his grandmother, and is the first in his family to graduate from high school. He went on to graduate from James Madison University, worked in politics in Northern Virginia, before making Richmond his home.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
STONEY: I'd love to see more young people involved, engaged in government at all levels, whether it's in Northern Virginia, or Hampton Roads. There are a couple that stand out to me: Wes Bellamy in Charlottesville, Marcia Price in Hampton Roads. What I want to do is join people like them in pushing for some of the issues that matter in all our jurisdictions. Particularly, public education... I want to be able to back that coalition to go out and ask, ask, ask and retain more dollars for our schools.
NOE-PAYNE: Richmond is like a magnet, people just keep coming back to it. What is it about Richmond that does that?
STONEY: Young people are attracted to this city because it's on the rise. And my job as the next mayor is to keep those young families, those young people here, long-term. That's going to be a task, but I'm up to it.
NOE-PAYNE: Do you see Richmond as having any role in helping the same thing in other parts of the state?
STONEY: Without a doubt. I want Richmond to be the model when it comes to attracting young people and newcomers from all over the country, to the state but to our city specifically. This is our state's capital and so what happens here reverberates throughout the Commonwealth.
Extra Audio Below: Stoney names some of his favorite Richmond icons
NOE-PAYNE: How do you take that success and reverberate it outwards to the surrounding region?
STONEY: I'm going to preach, I'm going to breath, I'm going to live, regional cooperation as the next mayor. I can't get this done all by myself... As a region no one can beat us, I know that without a doubt. So I want to say to my friends in Hampton Roads and in Northern Virginia, eat your hearts out. Cause this is the place to come.
NOE-PAYNE: So you're throwing down the gauntlet?
STONEY: I have to! Because I want newcomers to come to Richmond and stay here long term. I know what my job and responsibility is, my job is to ensure that when they come here they can stay and raise a family here. K-12. And in Richmond itself, the city, we're not there yet.
