While national and statewide elections continue to make headlines, another closely watched race is for Richmond’s at-large mayor.
Richmond uses a strong mayor system. That means the nonpartisan mayor, who's elected every four years, has a few duties: ceremonial support, drafting a city budget, recommending city administrators who are then approved by city Council, and handling the day-to-day oversight of city government services.
Richmond’s current mayor, Levar Stoney, is on his way out after two terms. And five Richmonders are vying to replace him.
Danny Avula is a public health administrator who moved to Richmond’s East End two decades ago. He’s since served in health roles under Stoney, former Governor Ralph Northam and current Governor Glenn Youngkin. But his work with Youngkin, and donations from conservative groups, have raised eyebrows in the Democratic-leaning city. He’s since given some donations back, and he notes Youngkin skipped over him for a larger health role because of his progressive values.
“Because I was pro-choice, because I was pro trans rights, because I was pro-gun control I did not get the job as state health commissioner,” Avula said at a recent mayoral forum.
Avula is also leading the pack in fundraising, raking in over 800 grand as of late September reporting.
Harrison Roday is a former New York private equity investor who grew up in Henrico County but moved back to Richmond during the pandemic. He’s been endorsed by progressive groups like New Virginia Majority, Richmond Crusade for Voters, and Richmond Education Association, the city’s teacher union. Roday has pointed to his work under Virginia Senator Tim Kaine and former President Barack Obama, as well as his links to nonprofits and other large investments as grounds for his mayoral clout.
When asked about how Richmond could address food deserts in the city’s lower income neighborhoods, he compared it to the millions Stoney put up for a new baseball stadium.
“If we can invest taxpayer money in baseball stadiums then we can invest money in subsidizing food deserts. That seems straightforward,” Roday said at another recent forum.
Michelle Mosby is a veteran of Richmond City council but left the body for a failed mayoral bid in 2016. She points to improvements in the city’s bond rating and working to get the city’s rapid transit bus system off the ground that took place under her council term.
She’d also be Richmond’s first Black woman mayor. When asked about the city’s $10 sale of land to Planned Parenthood for a new clinic, Mosby said she had some concerns with the low price, but that she had visited such clinics in the past.
“I believe we need to protect women’s health clinics for people like myself that need services, not just abortion, because they’re bigger than that," Mosby told a crowd at a recent forum. "I needed services, and they helped me with services.”
Maurice Neblett is the underdog in the race, with less than $3 grand in fundraising, he’s pointed to his work as a community activist, and helping link lower income folks with services, as well as his membership on the board of Virginia Credit Union, as qualities that make him mayoral.
When he was asked about his support for the abortion clinic land sale, he offered this unique take:
“I want to make sure women have a clear understanding of what options are available," Neblett told residents at a recent forum. "Where we have abortion clinics, we need clinics that are pro-life as well.”
And finally, there’s current Richmond City Council member and local gym owner Andreas Addison. An urban planning nerd at heart, he’s been involved in some high-profile city changes, including helping to make and keep Richmond’s bus system fare free after the pandemic.
Addison’s proposed changes to the city’s tax system that he said would tax land itself, not the houses on that land. This switch, he says, would reduce tax burdens for homeowners.
“People who bought a home ten years ago are now paying over $200 more a month just in taxes to keep their house and it's a challenge I hear in every income level,” Addison said.
All these candidates aren’t vying for the popular vote, Richmond’s mayoral race instead relies on a candidate winning a plurality of the city’s 9 districts. This system was created in an effort to empower the city’s majority Black districts. But as Richmond diversifies, so does its power structure. That means long held maxims about a Black candidate holding a built-in edge may no longer hold true - or at least remains to be seen.
Former Virginia Governor Doug Wilder was the first to be elected under Richmond’s so-called Strong Mayor system. In an interview he told Radio IQ he hadn’t endorsed anyone yet, but he had some advice for whoever wins this fall.
“The mayor of the city of Richmond, like mayors of any other city, needs to talk to, and listen to, the people,” Wilder told Radio IQ.
Early voting is open now. Election Day is Tuesday, November 5,
