Primer: The 2024 Richmond mayoral race

Candidates in the 2024 Richmond mayoral race (clockwise from top left): Andreas Addison, Michelle Mosby, Harrison Roday, Maurice Neblett, Dr. Danny Avula (photos courtesy of respective campaigns)

Early voting is already underway but if you haven’t cast your ballot for Richmond’s next mayor, you’ve still got time before November 5 to learn where the five candidates stand on the top issues facing the River City.

The race is dominated by four men and one woman. According to Axios , Richmond hasn’t had a non-Black mayor since now-U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine held the office more than 20 years ago. And the city has also never had a Black woman mayor.

If you’re unsure what precinct or district you’re in, the city offers downloadable precinct, voter and election district voting maps.

If you haven’t voted since the last major election back in 2020, there aren’t many changes in the process of voting, said Keith Balmer, General Registrar for the City of Richmond.

“In regards to this election, the thing is that there wasn’t really a whole lot of movement as far as new legislation with the General Assembly, so there’s no new laws that really impact it,” he said.

Voters who haven’t voted in the last few years should also check what district they’re in, said Balmer, who added that his department has already sent out mailers to voters who were moved into a new city council district because of redistricting.

Balmer is being investigated by the Richmond Inspector General’s Office for allegations of nepotism and improper spending in the city’s elections office, which Balmer has led since 2021.

Mayoral Priorities

There are common threads that nearly every potential mayor is pulling on to tie their campaign together with how they’d run the city. Although many have the same priorities, they have different approaches and some offer more context than others about their plans.

All five candidates — Andreas Addison, Danny Avula, Michelle Mosby, Maurice Neblett and Harrison Roday — list reforming City Hall as a priority issue on their campaign websites. Some, like Avula , have detailed lists about how they want to do that, while others, such as Neblett, have only one sentence.

For the past several months, Richmond’s City Hall has experienced major issues concerning meals taxes , overdue balances on credit card spending, and a lack of transparency , so it’s not surprising that the mayoral candidates have set their sights on fixing the issues there.

Housing is the next common thread in each candidate’s campaign, and they all lay out their plans to improve how the city can better serve renters and homeowners on their websites – except for Neblett, who doesn’t mention any housing goals on his site. The rest mention expanding the city’s land trust portfolios, such as the Maggie Walker Community Land Trust, to help stave off evictions and people experiencing homelessness. Each of these candidates have other ideas as well, such as Roday’s plan to invest $100 million in housing in the next four years. The money would go toward preventing evictions and into building more affordable housing.

The candidates’ other priorities include:

Safe Neighborhoods: All the candidates say they want to create safer neighborhoods. Generally, they highlight fixing crumbling sidewalks, building better biking and walking infrastructure, and expanding public transportation. Mosby plans to tackle crime by trying to recruit more police officers and get funding for community based response teams to address mental health emergencies. Neblett ’s website mentions creating trust between residents and police as a route to safer communities.

Education : Roday, Avula, Mosby, and Neblett all plan to work closer with Richmond Public Schools to improve school buildings and want more funding for schools. Addison is proposing to build a workforce development center in Southside for students and adults to learn trade skills.

Reproductive Rights: Addison, Avula and Roday have listed access to reproductive services, such as those provided by Planned Parenthood, as a priority.

LGBTQ+ Issues : Addison and Avula list supporting the LGBTQ+ community as a priority. Avula says he’ll push back against any state or federal attempts to reduce protections and rights, while Addison wants to create an Office of LGBTQ Affairs that will help connect the community to services and support small businesses, among other goals.

Climate Issues : Avula is the only candidate that mentions climate change on his campaign website, stating that he wants to fully fund the city’s Office of Sustainability to realize the goals defined in the RVAgreen 2050 plan , which lays out a plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in the city in part by creating climate-neutral buildings and by increasing tree coverage.

Housing: Last month, we asked the candidates about their plans to ease affordable housing challenges in the city; here’s what they told us .

Richmond mayor candidates’ ideas on housing and how the state can help the city

Richmond mayoral candidate profiles

The Virginia Mercury gleaned information about each candidates’ policy views from our own reporting, and by reviewing their campaign websites, their comments in other media and at mayoral forums being held around the city. We also asked each candidate one question: The city’s  demographics have changed since the last election; how will you be mayor for the entire city?

Andreas Addison

Addison has represented Richmond’s 1st District since 2017. He is the owner of Pure Fitness RVA in Scott’s Addition, as well as working as an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia’s School of Public Policy. Prior to his time on city council, he worked in City Hall. Addison’s campaign had raised $128,497 as of Aug. 31, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan website that tracks campaign spending and donations, releases data on elections and displays election results.

On how he will govern the whole city, Addison said though the city’s form of governing was based upon creating a racially diverse opportunity for residents to have representation on the city council and in who they elect as mayor, it has not been done in an equitable way.

“The only way to make sure that you actually have a good sense of what the voice for the people is, and the job you have as a public servant, is to make sure that you have a diverse voice, a voice of all people from all over the city and all backgrounds and all racial diversities and social income levels,” Addison said.

Dr. Danny Avula

Dr. Avula ’s background includes working for the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts for 12 years, with half of that time as director. Former Gov. Ralph Northam appointed him to head up the state’s COVID-19 vaccination program. It’s his first time running for office.

In terms of campaign fundraising, in the past few weeks, Avula money levels have surged and  currently stands at $827,698.

Avula did not respond to the Virginia Mercury’s request for comment. But in a response to a question posed by Next City and VPM News asking how would a candidate for mayor support Black reparations, Avula said he has a long record of addressing racial inequity through his work in public health.

“But in leading any ‘reparation’s effort in Richmond, I commit to listening and empowering those who have been working on reparations specifically much longer than I,” he said.

Michelle Mosby

Mosby became Richmond’s City Council first Black female president in 2015. She served on the council from 2012 to 2016 She  started the non-profit “ Help Me Help You” foundation, which helps formerly incarcerated people land jobs, and owns the International Hair Salon. Mosby’s campaign has raised $290,512 so far.

In response to The Mercury’s question about governing the whole city, Mosby wrote in an email:

“Throughout my career, both in and out of public service, I have made it a point to work across racial and economic lines. Since I began this campaign, engaging diverse communities has been a core principle,” she wrote. “I will prioritize equitable policies that address systemic inequalities and promote economic opportunities for all.”

Maurice Neblett

A Richmond native who’s lived in public housing communities including Fairfield, Mosby, and Gilpin Courts, as well as Swansboro and other neighborhoods, Neblett also attended several schools in the city, according to RVAMAG . The first-time candidate graduated from Virginia Union University, with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice, according to his campaign website . As of August 31, Neblett’s campaign chest hasn’t cracked the $3,000 mark.

As for how he’ll govern the city under the changing demographics, Neblett said even with the demographic shift, he’s been seeing the same issues since before the pandemic.

“I’ve interacted with the Latino community, the Caucasian community, and also African American or any other ethnic group as well,” Neblett said. “I understand a lot of the issues they may have. We have to move in accordance to a cadence in a manner that’s going to make sure that we all thrive as a city.”

Harrison Roday

Roday is the founder of the non-profit Bridging Virginia. It is his first time running for public office but he did work for Sen. Tim Kaine and in the Obama administration, according to his campaign website .

His campaign biography also highlights his work Board of Directors of Roe Your Vote Virginia , a Political Action Committee that promoted pro-choice candidates in Virginia legislative races; and as a founding board member for We the People for Education , an advocacy group that focused on getting school board candidates elected who don’t support ring-wing agendas. In the past few weeks, Roday’s fundraising reached $727,452.

Roday told VPM News his background in running businesses with thousands of employees would help lead City Hall more effectively.

He did not respond to the Virginia Mercury’s request for comment but in a recent interview with VPM’s podcast “ RVA’s Got Issues ,” he said he’d like voters to evaluate how a mayor prioritizes the budget.

“Where are you allocating the money in the budget? Where are you prioritizing physically economic development opportunities? Are you putting in structures in economic development transactions that the city is involved in that reflect not only the needs of workers who are focused on those projects, but reflect the needs of residents?” he asked.

Opportunities to learn more about the candidates

The many mayoral candidate forums convening across the city ahead of the election offer the chance to hear from the hopefuls directly and learn more about their plans for Richmond. Here are a few you may attend:

• On October 15th, Richmond First and WTVR TV 6 are sponsoring a citizen’s debate featuring all the mayoral candidates at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture at 428 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd. The event will air live and be streamed on the station’s website .
• The last chance to see all the candidates in one place will be the Richmond “ Mayorathon ” is at 6pm on October 23, which is also at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. The free event is part of a collaborative civic project that holds forums and reaches out to residents to get input on the mayor’s race and holds a panel discussion. Past Mayorathons were held in 2020 and 2016. (Full disclosure: The Mercury’s Editor-in-Chief Samantha Willis will be one of the moderators but the Mercury is not a sponsor of the event.)

Check out The Mercury’s 2024 Voter Guide for more information on Virginia’s key congressional races and the contest for one of Virginia’s U.S. Senate seats.

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