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List of mayors of Richmond, Virginia

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Mayor of Richmond
Incumbent
Danny Avula
since January 1, 2025
StyleThe Honorable
Term length
  • Four years (since 2005)
Inaugural holderWilliam Foushee
FormationJuly 2, 1782
WebsiteOffice of the Mayor

The Mayor of Richmond, Virginia 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, Virginia and 81st in the sequence of regular officeholders is Democrat Danny Avula, who has served in the office since January 1, 2025.

History

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

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

In May 1782, the 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 2, 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 T. Pulliam,[1] 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 Governor 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

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No. Mayor Took office Left office Tenure Party Election

Appointed mayors (1782–1853)

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1 William Foushee
(1749–1824)		 July 3, 1782 June 30, 1783 362 days Independent App.
2 John J. Beckley
(1757–1807)
1st time		 July 1, 1783 July 6, 1784 1 year, 5 days Independent App.
3 Robert Mitchell
(TBA–TBA)
1st time		 July 7, 1784 1785 1 year Independent App.
4 John Harvie
(1742–1807)		 1785 1786 1 year Independent App.
5 William Pennock
(TBA–TBA)		 December 10, 1786 1786 <1 year Independent App.
6 Richard Adams
(1726–1800)		 1786 February 21, 1788 2 years Independent App.
7 John J. Beckley
(1757–1807)
2nd time		 February 22, 1788 March 9, 1789 1 year, 15 days Independent App.
8 Alexander McRobert
(TBA–TBA)		 March 10, 1789 March 9, 1790 364 days Independent App.
9 Robert Boyd
(TBA–TBA)		 March 10, 1790 1790 <1 year Unknown App.
10 George Nicholson
(TBA–TBA)
1st time		 1790 December 12, 1790 <1 year Unknown App.
11 Robert Mitchell
(TBA–TBA)
2nd time		 December 13, 1790 1791 1 year Unknown App.
12 John Barrett
(TBA–TBA)
1st time		 1791 1792 1 year Unknown App.
13 Robert Mitchell
(TBA–TBA)
3rd time		 1792 1793 1 year Unknown App.
14 John Barrett
(TBA–TBA)
2nd time		 1793 1794 1 year Unknown App.
15 Robert Mitchell
(TBA–TBA)
4th time		 1794 1795 1 year Unknown App.
16 Andrew Dunscomb
(TBA–TBA)		 1795 1796 1 year Unknown App.
17 Robert Mitchell
(TBA–TBA)
5th time		 1796 1797 1 year Unknown App.
18 James McClurg
(1746–1823)
1st time		 1797 1798 1 year Unknown App.
19 John Barrett
(TBA–TBA)
3rd time		 1798 1799 1 year Unknown App.
20 George Nicholson
(TBA–TBA)
2nd time		 1799 1800 1 year Unknown App.
21 James McClurg
(1746–1823)
2nd time		 1800 1801 1 year Unknown App.
22 William Richardson
(TBA–TBA)		 1801 1802 1 year Unknown App.
23 John Foster
(TBA–TBA)		 1802 1803 1 year Unknown App.
24 James McClurg
(1746–1823)
3rd time		 1803 1804 1 year Unknown App.
25 Robert Mitchell
(TBA–TBA)
6th time		 1804 1805 1 year Unknown App.
26 William DuVal
(TBA–TBA)		 1805 1806 1 year Unknown App.
27 Edward Carrington
(1748–1810)		 1806 1810 4 years Unknown App.
28 David Bullock
(TBA–TBA)		 1810 1811 1 year Unknown App.
29 Benjamin Tate
(TBA–TBA)		 1811 1812 1 year Unknown App.
30 Thomas Wilson
(TBA–TBA)
1st time		 1812 1813 1 year Unknown App.
31 Robert Greenhow
(1761–1840)
[2]		 1813 1814 1 year Unknown App.
32 Thomas Wilson
(TBA–TBA)
2nd time		 1814 1815 1 year Unknown App.
33 Robert Gamble
(TBA–TBA)		 1815 1816 1 year Unknown App.
34 Thomas Wilson
(TBA–TBA)
3rd time		 1816 1817 1 year Unknown App.
35 William H. Fitzwhylson
(TBA–TBA)		 1817 1818 1 year Unknown App.
36 Thomas Wilson
(TBA–TBA)
4th time		 1818 May 4, 1818 <1 year Unknown App.
37 Francis Wicker
(TBA–TBA)
Acting
1st time		 May 5, 1818 1819 1 year Unknown App.
38 John Adams
(1773–1825)		 1819 1825 6 years Unknown App.
39 Joseph Tate
(TBA–TBA)		 1825 1839 14 years Unknown App.
40 Francis Wicker
(TBA–TBA)
2nd time		 1839 1840 1 year Unknown App.
41 William Lambert
(?–1852)		 1840 March 23, 1852[a] 12 years Democratic App.
42 Samuel T. Pulliam
(TBA–TBA)
Interim
[1]		 March 25, 1852 1853 1 year Democratic App.

Popularly elected mayors (1853–1948)

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43 Joseph Mayo
(1795–1872)
1st time		 1853 April 3, 1865[b] 12 years Democratic TBA
Vacant April 3, 1865 July 3, 1865  
44 David J. Saunders
(1811–1873)		 July 3, 1865 April 6, 1866 277 days Democratic App.[c]
45 Joseph Mayo
(1795–1872)
2nd time		 April 7, 1866 May 4, 1868[d] 2 years, 27 days Democratic TBA
46 George Chahoon
(1840–1934)		 May 6, 1868 March 15, 1870 1 year, 313 days Republican App.[e]
47 Henry K. Ellyson
(1823–1890)
[f]		 March 16, 1870 June 30, 1871 1 year, 106 days Democratic TBA
48 Anthony M. Keiley
(TBA–TBA)		 July 1, 1871 June 30, 1876 4 years, 365 days Democratic TBA
49 William C. Carrington
(TBA–TBA)		 July 1, 1876 June 30, 1888 11 years, 365 days Democratic TBA
50 James Taylor Ellyson
(1847–1919)		 July 1, 1888 June 30, 1894 5 years, 364 days Democratic TBA
51 Richard M. Taylor
(TBA–TBA)		 July 1, 1894 1904 10 years Democratic TBA
52 Carlton McCarthy
(1847–1936)		 September 1, 1904 August 31, 1908 3 years, 365 days Democratic TBA
53 David C. Richardson
(1845–1928)		 September 1, 1908 September 3, 1912 4 years, 2 days Democratic TBA
54 George Ainslie
(1868–1931)		 September 4, 1912 1924 12 years Democratic TBA
55 John Fulmer Bright
(1877–1953)		 1924 1940 16 years Democratic TBA
56 Gordon Barbour Ambler
(TBA–TBA)		 1940 1944 4 years Democratic TBA
57 William C. Herbert
(TBA–TBA)		 1944 September 10, 1946 2 years Democratic TBA
58 Horace Hall Edwards
(1902–1987)		 September 11, 1946 1948 2 years Democratic TBA

City Council appointed mayors (1948–2005)

[edit]
59 W. Stirling King
(TBA–TBA)		 1948 1950 2 years Democratic App.
60 T. Nelson Parker
(1898–1973)		 1950 1952 2 years Democratic App.
61 Edward E. Haddock
(1911–1996)		 1952 1954 2 years Democratic App.
62 Thomas P. Bryan
(1918–1983)		 1954 1956 2 years Democratic App.
63 F. Henry Garber
(TBA–TBA)		 1956 1958 2 years Democratic App.
64 A. Scott Anderson
(1904–1971)		 1958 1960 2 years Democratic App.
65 Claude W. Woodward
(TBA–TBA)		 1960 1962 2 years Democratic App.
66 Eleanor P. Sheppard
(1907–1991)		 July 1, 1962 June 30, 1964 1 year, 365 days Democratic App.
67 Morrill Martin Crowe
(1901–1994)		 July 1, 1964 June 30, 1968 3 years, 365 days Democratic App.
68 Philip J. Bagley Jr.
(TBA–TBA)		 July 1, 1968 June 30, 1970 1 year, 364 days Democratic App.
69 Thomas J. Bliley Jr.
(1932–2023)		 July 1, 1970 March 7, 1977 6 years, 249 days Democratic App.[g]
70 Henry L. Marsh
(1933–2025)		 March 8, 1977 June 30, 1982 5 years, 114 days Democratic App.
71 Roy A. West
(TBA–TBA)
[3]		 July 1, 1982 June 30, 1988 5 years, 365 days Democratic App.
72 Geline B. Williams
(TBA–TBA)		 July 1, 1988 June 30, 1990 1 year, 364 days Republican App.
73 Walter T. Kenney Sr.
(TBA–TBA)
[4]		 July 1, 1990 June 30, 1994 3 years, 364 days Democratic App.
74 Leonidas B. Young II
(1954–2016)		 July 1, 1994 June 30, 1996 1 year, 365 days Democratic App.
75 Larry E. Chavis
(TBA–TBA)		 July 1, 1996 June 30, 1998 1 year, 364 days Democratic App.
76 Tim Kaine
(born 1958)		 July 1, 1998 September 10, 2001[h] 3 years, 71 days Democratic App.
77 Rudy McCollum
(born 1955)		 September 11, 2001 January 1, 2005 3 years, 112 days Democratic App.

Popularly-elected mayors (since 2005)

[edit]
78 Douglas Wilder
(born 1931)		 January 1, 2005 January 1, 2009 4 years, 0 days Democratic 2004
79 Dwight Clinton Jones
(born 1948)		 January 1, 2009 January 1, 2017 8 years, 0 days Democratic 2008
2012
80 Levar Stoney
(born 1981)		 January 1, 2017 January 1, 2025 8 years, 0 days Democratic 2016
2020
81 Danny Avula
(born 1978)		 January 1, 2025 Incumbent 1 year, 307 days Democratic 2024

Notes

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  1. ↑ Died in office.
  2. ↑ Mayo surrendered Richmond to the Union Army, and Mayo was arrested and removed from office.
  3. ↑ Saunders was appointed by Virginia Governor Francis Harrison Pierpont after Joseph Mayo's arrest.
  4. ↑ Mayo was removed from office by Virginia military governor John Schofield.
  5. ↑ Chahoon was appointed by Virginia military governor John Schofield after Joseph Mayo's second removal from office.
  6. ↑ After Ellyson's election, Mayor Chahoon challenged the new administration's legitimacy and refused to step down. The courts ruled in Ellyson's favor, and he was declared victor of the May election but refused the office because it was tainted by skullduggery. See Richmond's Municipal War for more information.
  7. ↑ Between 1972 and 1976, city council elections were not held by order of the United States Department of Justice. See City of Richmond v. United States for more information.
  8. ↑ Kaine resigned in order to run successfully for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 "11 May 1852, 4 - Richmond Enquirer at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  2. ↑ Christian, W. Asbury (1912). Richmond: Her Past and Present. p. 546. Retrieved September 8, 2024 – via Archive.org.Open access icon
  3. ↑ Williams, Michael Paul (June 30, 1988). "West says he's not in the race for mayor". Richmond Times-Dispatch. pp. 1, 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Will seek to keep seat, Kenney says". Richmond Times-Dispatch. February 18, 1982. pp. B1, B8 – via Newspapers.com.
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