Mayoral Race

by

Jon Baliles

The West End councilman has touted himself as a candidate who has “an outsider spirit with insider knowledge.”

Baliles, the son of former Virginia Gov. Gerald Baliles, won the 1st District council seat in 2012 by 20 votes. During his term, he has been a thorn in the side of Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration. Most notably, he withdrew his support for Jones’ Shockoe Bottom baseball stadium plan, effectively killing it. Baliles, 45, has pointed to the decision as proof of his judgment and willingness to put what’s best for the city ahead of what is politically expedient.

“People want somebody they can trust and somebody they believe is going to do what’s right,” he said in an August interview. “I may be naïve in believing that, but I’ve got a better ear to the ground as to the heartbeat of the city than any of the other candidates.”

He previously worked in City Hall under Jones and former Mayor L. Douglas Wilder. If elected, Baliles says he would work to rebuild confidence in City Hall that he believes has eroded over the last eight years. He also has pledged to determine a fixed source of revenue for Richmond Public Schools in the wake of a contentious budget cycle this past spring.

Polls in August, September and October indicated he was lagging behind three candidates who have vastly out-fundraised him, but he remained confident voters would ultimately support him.

“I think we don’t need a City Hall that goes to the highest bidder, or to somebody running up the ladder, or to somebody looking for a trophy case for a street fight,” he told the audience at a September forum hosted by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “We want somebody that’s open and honest. We haven’t had it, and we need it. It’s clear as day.”

JACK BERRY

The former Venture Richmond executive’s lengthy administrative résumé and no-frills leadership style has lured voters, making him a serious contender in the race.  

Berry, a 62-year-old native of Lynchburg, has completed stints in the city budget office, as Hanover County’s top manager and director of Venture Richmond. The public-private partnership organizes popular events downtown, including the Richmond Folk Festival and Dominion Riverrock. His experience makes him the candidate most qualified to clean up City Hall, he says, which is hindering Richmond’s rise, not helping it.

“We’ve got a city government that’s not keeping up, that’s not doing its part,” he told voters at a meet-and-greet in late August. “How are you going to have credibility to tackle poverty, to tackle schools, to tackle the big opportunities and problems that the city and region have, if you have a city government that can’t do the basic stuff?”

If elected, Berry has committed to set the city’s finance department straight so it can generate annual financial documents on time. Directing more funds to city schools and continuing the anti-poverty initiatives set forth by the Jones administration are also among his priorities.

Berry’s critics point to his advocacy for the failed Shockoe Bottom baseball stadium plan as evidence that he is beholden to the corporate community. The candidate, who has offered a mea culpa for his role in the proposal, says he always has the best interests of downtown at heart.

“I’m the guy who has worked for the last 20 years of my career with one goal in mind,” he said in August. “My one economic development goal for Richmond was to make this place a magnet of opportunity, to make this place more vibrant and more attractive to young people — and it worked.”

BOBBY JUNES

The retired real estate consultant fashions himself a political outsider who is best suited to address what he sees as the biggest challenge facing Richmond today: the disconnect between what taxpayers want and what local government does.

“Citizens are disenchanted with the current political process,” Junes said in a July interview. “The more people I talked to, the more imminent it became that it’s a very good point for me to step up and run for office.”

Junes, 60, served for 10 years on Henrico County’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission (he moved into the city proper in 2010). The board position makes up the bulk of his governance experience. He also served for six years on the board of CARITAS, which provides services for the homeless, and worked for about two years as a project director for the Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity. He has never held elected office.

If elected, Junes said his priority would be determining a fixed funding source for Richmond Public Schools. Connecting job-seekers with employers is also atop his list, he says. So, too, is instituting what he calls the “Q-Factor,” a feedback system by which residents could rate city services and city workers could rate interactions with residents requesting services.

August and September polls found Junes’ candidacy has garnered little support from voters, but the candidate is undeterred.

“I come on board as a team player,” he told attendees at a September forum held by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, adding later, “I want what the citizens of Richmond want.”

JOE MORRISSEY

The former commonwealth’s attorney and state legislator is the most polarizing man in city politics, and he’s poised to become Richmond’s next mayor.

Morrissey, 59, has navigated criminal charges, political and professional exile and even jail time in his 30-plus years in the public eye. Most recently, Virginia State Bar investigators alleged in August that he used a “knowingly false” defense in a 2014 case in which he entered an Alford plea to a misdemeanor charge of taking indecent liberties with a minor. The young woman in question, then a receptionist at his law office, is now his wife and the mother of two of his children.

His storied personal, professional and legal history led some to dismiss his chances in this election, but his candidacy has proven formidable. A tireless campaigner with a penchant for putting his opponents on their heels, Morrissey has asserted himself in a field of political newcomers.

While Morrissey has little backing in the predominantly white districts in the city’s West End, he has unwavering support in the overwhelmingly African-American districts in South Richmond and the East End. The loyalty of his base has seemed to confound his opponents, who have struggled to weaken his position in the weeks leading up to the election. Morrissey is the only candidate in a position to win the election outright by claiming five of nine districts on Nov. 8, according to three polls.

If elected, Morrissey has pledged to cut out what he characterizes as City Hall’s wasteful spending on economic development deals, overhaul the public school system’s outdated building stock and pursue removing the Jefferson Davis statue from Monument Avenue — an idea he later wavered on.

“I see that there are really two different Richmonds,” Morrissey told a crowd at an October forum. “There is a very thriving Richmond, where people are very visible and public. But there’s another one where people live in abject poverty, and they’re hopeless. …. I think I bridge that gap between those two Richmonds.”

MICHELLE MOSBY

If you’re happy with the direction of city government, Michelle Mosby may be your mayoral candidate of choice.

Mosby, 47, is the first-term Richmond City Council representative for the South Side 9th District. For the last two years, the owner of a South Richmond hair salon has served as council president, the first African-American woman to hold the position. Her peers elected her unanimously to the role, cementing her status as a rising star in city politics.

While on council, Mosby championed a “ban the box” initiative, eliminating a requirement for city job applicants to disclose prior felony convictions. A political ally of Mayor Dwight C. Jones, Mosby voted for several high-profile, and controversial, initiatives proposed by his administration, including the Stone Brewing deal and Broad Street bus rapid transit line. She stands by her decisions, she says, because the deals created opportunities for Richmonders who need them the most.

Mosby’s allegiance to Jones has proven problematic for her candidacy in an election cycle when most voters are unhappy with the job he has done. “She’s a part of the status quo, and a greater part of it by being council president,” says Bob Holsworth, a longtime observer of city politics. An August poll showed Mosby running third in the field of seven candidates and leading her home district. A month later, a second poll showed her falling to fifth and losing her home district badly to Morrissey.

If elected, Mosby says she’ll continue working to improve City Hall and foster cooperation between her administration, City Council and the School Board.

“Overall, our city can work more efficiently,” she told supporters at an August fundraiser. “We have to be a whole lot more accountable and a whole lot more transparent to the people who elected us. But again, as a council member and as the council president, I have already modeled this.”

LEVAR STONEY

The former secretary of the commonwealth has made use of a record fundraising haul to present himself as the fresh face Richmond needs in City Hall.  

Stoney, 35, has branded himself the race’s “education candidate.” In August, he released a 10-point plan outlining steps he would take to improve city schools, as well as goals to measure his administration’s progress. The issue is personal to him, he has said, because he was the first person in his family to graduate from high school and college.

“I’m running for each and every child, no matter what neighborhood they live in, to have a quality of life here that they can actually go to school, get a great education, then go off and get a good-paying job or go to college,” Stoney said during a speaking engagement in September.

He has never held elected office and possesses less governing experience than most of his opponents. Despite this, he has earned endorsements from organizations including the Richmond City Democratic Committee, which tipped the scales for Dwight C. Jones in 2008. He’s also earned praise from his former boss, Gov. Terry McAuliffe, and other state Democrats.

That Stoney has establishment support but doesn’t have to answer for local government’s current woes, as do some of his opponents, is advantageous, says Rich Meagher, a political science professor at Randolph-Macon College. Polls have shown Stoney surging in the field of seven candidates, but running behind Morrissey and Berry.

“He can appeal to white and black voters. He can appeal to West End and East End voters,” Meagher says. “I just don’t know if he has enough time to do that or if people are going to buy the story.”

LAWRENCE WILLIAMS SR.

A native Richmonder who is an architect by trade, Williams has campaigned for mayor twice before: first in 2004, then again in 2008, when he earned just 2 percent of the vote. Now, the 63-year-old is hoping the third time is the charm.

Williams outlines his goals in a 10-point platform. They include determining “new sources of funding” for city schools without increasing the real estate tax rate, restructuring the city’s budgeting process and filling 2,500 potholes in the first 100 days of his administration. He cites his professional experience and relationships as proof of his ability to solve planning and permitting issues that frustrate small business owners and developers.

“I think what’s happening is everyone downtown takes their job so seriously like they’re the most important person in the world rather than saying ‘How can I make this customer happy?’ ” Williams told a voter while campaigning on the North Side in early August. “I don’t know what the mindset is down there.”

Despite memorable performances at several candidate forums thanks to his dry sense of humor, Williams’ chances of becoming the city’s next mayor are slim, says Bob Holsworth, a longtime observer of local politics. “[Williams] is a smart guy. He actually has a pretty good understanding of issues, but he has run before and not done very well.”

Williams remains confident. As he told attendees at a September forum hosted by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, “You have to understand the nuts, and you have to understand the bolts … of how the city actually works.”