Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney is getting out of the race for governor and jumping into the Democratic nominating contest for lieutenant governor.
Stoney, 42, in the final year of his second term as mayor, will formally bow out of the race on Tuesday morning at the same time as his announcement that he will run for lieutenant governor. That is the path then-state Sen. Doug Wilder took almost 40 years ago before becoming the nation’s first elected Black governor four years later.
Stoney had wanted to become the second Black person to serve as governor of Virginia.
His departure appears to clear Rep. Abigail Spanberger's path to the Democratic nomination for governor in 2025. Spanberger, D-7th, had announced her run for governor in mid-November, three weeks before Stoney jumped into the race.
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Spanberger is forgoing a reelection bid for her fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives for a bid to become the first woman elected governor in Virginia.
She may have competition in the general election from Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who also would be Virginia's first woman elected governor. Earle-Sears could vie for the Republican gubernatorial nomination against Attorney General Jason Miyares.
Stoney calls for Dems to unite
In a statement, Stoney said his priority is for Democrats to unite behind a candidate to succeed Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who defeated the mayor’s political mentor, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, in 2021 and steered Virginia to the right.
“Right now, we have a Republican administration that puts a radical political agenda ahead of what’s right for Virginia families,” Stoney said. “That must change.”
“After careful consideration with my family, I believe that the best way to ensure that all Virginia families do get the change they deserve, is for our party to come together, avoid a costly and damaging primary and, for me to run instead for Lieutenant Governor,” he said.
It was a decision Stoney had tried to avoid, rebuffing suggestions from other Democrats that he run for the No. 2 statewide seat instead of challenging Spanberger for No. 1.
“For those who think I should run for another office, I think being mayor has given me the necessary experience to be an executive at the state level,” he told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in an interview on the eve of his announcement in early December.
After discussion with my family, I have decided that running to be the next Lieutenant Governor of Virginia is the right choice.
— Mayor Levar M. Stoney (@LevarStoney) April 23, 2024
Together, we are going to take back our Commonwealth in 2025. My full statement: pic.twitter.com/YW9FP01yWs
Stoney will face competition for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. Dr. Babur Lateef, an eye surgeon and chairman of the Prince William County School Board, already has announced his candidacy.
Lateef considered running for the 7th Congressional District seat in 2022 after the Virginia Supreme Court adopted a new election map that moved the district from the Richmond suburbs, where Spanberger lives, to Northern Virginia and the Fredericksburg area.
State legislators considering a run for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor include Sens. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, and Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach.
“As LG, I believe I can be an effective advocate for Virginia families to ensure that everyone in our state does in fact get that fair shot at success,” Stoney said. “Given everything at stake in the next governor’s race — from reproductive rights to education funding and tax fairness — I believe this is a time when Democrats must stand united and avoid an ugly primary for governor.”
Stoney now might hope to follow in the footsteps of Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who served as Richmond's mayor before he was elected lieutenant governor in 2001 and governor in 2005.
Spanberger’s money advantage
Stoney’s decision to drop out of the governor’s race came in the face of lengthening odds against defeating Spanberger, who enjoyed a huge fundraising advantage and strong name recognition in both the Richmond and Northern Virginia media markets. Updated fundraising totals will not become public until mid-July, but the three-term congresswoman had raised $3.6 million through the end of last year, with $3 million in the bank. Stoney raised $758,000, with $688,000 on hand at year’s end.
Both had high-level endorsements. Stoney was running with support from McAuliffe, a prodigious Democratic fundraiser, and Black leaders of the General Assembly, including Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth; Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Mamie Locke, D-Hampton; and Sen. Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico, chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus.
Spanberger has support from former Gov. Ralph Northam and most Democrats in Virginia’s congressional delegation, as well as numerous Democratic legislators. But two of her most significant endorsements were from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, beginning with former Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th, and then culminating with an announcement last week by Clean Virginia, a progressive advocacy organization based in Charlottesville, that it would support Spanberger and stake her to an initial donation of $250,000.
Clean Virginia’s endorsement made it unlikely that a progressive Democrat would jump into the race, forcing Stoney to defeat Spanberger in a head-to-head matchup. He won two elections as Richmond mayor with less than 40% of the vote because the vote was divided among multiple candidates.
Stoney said he decided to give up his bid for governor after spending “the past few weeks” with his wife, Brandy, and their daughter, Sunday, who was born in March.
“And during this time, I thought long and hard about the future I wanted for her and all Virginia families,” he said, noting that he had grown up in a “working poor family” and gotten into public service “to make sure families like mine got a fair shot at success.”
“This was not an easy decision — especially given that my campaign has received a lot of support from all corners of the commonwealth and I am so appreciative of that support,” Stoney said.
“And while there was a path to victory, it was a narrow path and after consideration, I firmly believe that running for LG is the right move for me and my family, the right move for the Democratic Party, the right move for the future of the Commonwealth of Virginia.”