Levar Stoney
Mayor-Elect Levar Stoney emerged from the field of Richmond mayoral candidates as the victor after winning five of nine districts on Election Day. (Photo by Jay Paul)
The political ascent of Levar Stoney was made official late Wednesday, when Virginia’s former secretary of the commonwealth was declared Richmond’s mayor-elect.
Stoney spent Wednesday awaiting the final count of some 9,000 absentee ballots, which delayed a final result in the mayoral election. Once tallied, the returns confirmed what his supporters had celebrated the previous night: an outright victory for the first-time candidate.
Former Venture Richmond executive Jack Berry called Stoney to concede shortly after the remaining ballots were counted. At about 8 p.m., Stoney addressed reporters for the first time as Richmond’s mayor-elect.
“We had a very, very good conversation about the future of Richmond and the contest we’ve had over the last six and a half months. Mr. Berry was very, very gracious,” Stoney said of their conversation. “We talked about … how we made each other better Richmonders but also better leaders as well.”
The mayoral election was a long, steady climb for Stoney, a 35-year-old newcomer to city politics when he announced his campaign back in April. Over the six-and-a-half-month campaign, he assembled a robust operation with experienced staffers. Droves of volunteers knocked on doors across the city and dialed tens of thousands of voters to get his message out. He raised more than $850,000 to fund his bid, a figure only surpassed by Berry in the final days.
Despite this, public polls showed Stoney lagging behind Berry and presumed front-runner Joe Morrissey as recently as mid-October. His two chief opponents had held high-profile positions, elected or otherwise, in the city and region since before Stoney was born. They routinely questioned his qualifications for the position and perceived lack of experience. Stoney parried the attacks, insisting that his candidacy offered Richmond voters a fresh start, not the familiar faces that have had a hand in City Hall’s shortcomings over the last quarter century. He laid out a vision centering on public education, an issue he cast as personal to him as the first person in his family to graduate from high school and college.
With each new poll, he made gains. His field operation, a slew of endorsements, including that of the Richmond City Democratic Committee and West End Councilman Jon Baliles, and a television ad campaign that would’ve made a congressional candidate envious solidified Stoney as a legitimate contender in the race.
Heading into Election Day, political observers thought the best case scenario for Stoney would be earning a spot in a potential runoff between the top two vote-getters. As returns came in, though, Stoney cobbled together a cross-section of downtown Richmond and its surrounding neighborhoods few, if any, thought possible. He won the East End 7th handily. Thanks to strong support from Virginia Commonwealth University students, he stole the Fan-anchored 2nd District from Berry, surprising even himself. His campaign’s focus on the so-called battleground 3rd and 5th Districts paid off with two more wins, putting four districts firmly in his column. Just before midnight, returns from the final two precincts in the 6th District delivered another shocking result and sealed his outright victory.
The decisive win on Election Day came as a surprise even to the candidate himself, Stoney said Wednesday.
“I never would have predicted that we’d win outright on Election Night. And we did," Stoney told reporters at City Hall. "And we did because, as I said earlier, months ago when people had us down at 7 percent, we were building a broad-based coalition that meant if you were African-American, white American, young, old, neighborhoods from across the city, we were putting together that broad-based coalition, and that’s what won out last night. I’ve always said that’s not only a recipe to win, but also a recipe to govern.”
Stoney says he will hit the ground running tomorrow, announcing who will serve on his transition team as well as meeting with outgoing Mayor Dwight C. Jones.
The mayor-elect will be sworn in on New Year's Eve, the fifth anniversary of the death of his father, Luther, whom Stoney spoke about often during the campaign. Asked about his family’s reaction to his victory, he visibly struggled to keep his emotions at bay.
“I know [my father] is looking down from above. My hope is ... that I can be a voice for those children who are living in a similar environment or living with the same circumstances. That’s what got me in this race, and that’s the mayor I want to be for every child in this city moving forward.”
