Jack Berry resigned from Venture Richmond to run for mayor. (Photo by Ash Daniel)
Former Venture Richmond executive Jack Berry on Wednesday evening conceded the Richmond mayoral election to Levar Stoney in a statement from his campaign.
Berry called Stoney just before 8 p.m. to concede the race. His campaign issued a short statement moments later.
“While the outcome is not what we had hoped for, I know that Richmond will be in good hands," Berry said in the statement. "Richmond has elected a young, inspiring leader with a vision for the future and immense dedication to our schools and children. I congratulate Levar Stoney on his election as the next mayor of Richmond. I wish him the very best and will be pulling for him and the city.”
Berry entered Election Day confident that he would prevail outright, and said as much at his polling place on Tuesday morning. He earned 33 percent of the vote citywide, second behind Stoney in the field of five candidates (eight appeared on the ballot).
The showing would have earned Berry a spot in a runoff election had Stoney not captured five of nine districts on Tuesday, a result the city registrar worked to verify until late Wednesday. Of the five districts Stoney won, the Fan-anchored 2nd District had been expected to break Berry’s way. Stoney also outperformed Berry among voters in what political observers viewed as the battleground districts — the 3rd and the 5th – leading up to Election Day.
Between August and mid-October, three public polls had shown Berry running second behind Joe Morrissey, a former commonwealth’s attorney and state delegate. The polls and a series of endorsements, including that of the Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial board and the Richmond Free Press, led his campaign and supporters to tout Berry as the candidate best positioned to defeat Morrissey.
In the end, both were looking up at Stoney.
