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Mayor of Richmond
Incumbent Levar Stoney since January 1, 2017
Style	The Honorable
Term length	Four years (since 2005)
Inaugural holder	William Foushee, Sr.
Formation	July 2, 1782
Website	Office of the Mayor

The Mayor of Richmond is the chief executive of the government of Richmond, Virginia, as stipulated by the city's charter.

This list includes mayors who were appointed by the Richmond City Council as well as those who were elected by popular vote.

The current Mayor of Richmond, (and 80th in the sequence of regular mayors), is Democrat Levar Stoney who succeeded Dwight C. Jones, a Baptist pastor and former member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 2016. Jones was first elected in 2008, he won a second term in November 2012.^[1]

History

Richmond's original City Hall building, used from 1814 to 1874

William Foushee, a physician, was the first mayor of Richmond, Virginia

The City of Richmond was founded in 1737 by William Byrd II.

In May 1782, Virginia General Assembly expressed desire to move inland, to a place less exposed to British incursions than Williamsburg. Richmond had been made the temporary capital after urging from Thomas Jefferson years earlier, and it was soon decided to make the move permanent.

Two months later, on July 2nd, a charter was written up, and the city was incorporated. Twelve men were to be elected from the City at-large and were to select one of their own to act as Mayor, another to serve as Recorder and four to serve as Aldermen. The remaining six were to serve as members of the Common Council. All positions had term limits of three years, with the exception of the mayor who could only serve one year consecutively. A vote was held at a meeting the following day, and Dr. William Foushee, Sr. was chosen as the first mayor.

In March 1851, the decision was made to replace the original Richmond City Charter. It was decided that all city officials were to be popularly elected. After the 12-year tenure of William Lambert and his short-term replacement by recorder Samuel C. Pulliam, elections were held, with Joseph C. Mayo coming out on top.

Mayo was deposed in April 1865, weeks before the end of the American Civil War, when Union forces captured the city.

The system set forth by the Second City Charter worked as long as the City was small and most voters knew personally, the qualifications of the men for whom they were voting and the requirements for the jobs to which they were elected.

Beginning in 1948, Richmond eliminated the popularly elected mayor's office, and instituted a council-manager form of government. This lasted until 2004, when the City Charter was changed once again, bringing back the popularly elected mayor. Former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder was elected mayor that year. Of Virginia's 38 cities, only Richmond does not have a council-manager form of government.

List of mayors

Appointed mayors (1782-1853)

Popularly-elected mayors (1853-1948)

City Council appointed mayors (1948-2005)

Popularly-elected mayors (since 2005)

	Picture	Mayor	Political Party	Term start	Term end
78		Douglas Wilder	Democratic	January 2, 2005	January 1, 2009
79		Dwight C. Jones	Democratic	January 1, 2009	December 31, 2016
80		Levar Stoney	Democratic	January 1, 2017	Incumbent

Notes

History of Virginia
By year Pre-statehood American Revolution U.S. Civil War Post-Civil War Topics: Cities - Politics - Slavery
Virginia portal
v t e

References

External links

• City of Richmond: City Council 1948-Present


• Political Graveyard: Mayors of Richmond