Richmond's Next Mayor: Double A Politics Has Arrived

With less than a week before Richmond residents head to the polls to elect a new mayor, it's beginning to feel a little like we've moved up from Class A to Double-A politics. There are TV ads annoying local television viewers; massive signs blowing in the wind; and major endorsements from prime time players -- like the former mayor of Hampton and the Times-Dispatch's editorial board.

Anecdotal reports suggest that this morning's endorsement of Bill Pantele by the Richmond Times-Dispatch is driving some younger voters toward Robert Grey. There's no way to tell whether Dwight Jones' growing raft of endorsements is actually drawing new voters into his corner.

What is clear is that at least a few people see vestiges of organized politics at play in the campaign -- specifically, that at least some elements of the business community are suddenly pushing hard for Pantele to keep Jones out of office. Presumably because Jones is a Democrat.

Don Harrison at Save Richmond does a good job of shaping this story out, using the TD endorsement, observations from Paul Goldman and his own perspectives.

Let’s play a civics version of “The Price is Right.” What did carrying the water for Metro Richmond’s biggest wigs buy Bill Pantele?

Why, only an endorsement from the Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial page.

Not only an endorsement, but a piece of revisionist history so outlandish and non-sensical that even the late Philip K. Dick would be embarrassed to write it down. The editorial, published in today’s paper, is particularly curious since Pantele was not even deemed worthy of being re-elected to his own council seat by these same writers in 2006!

Read that last sentence again before continuing.

What's more obvious to me is that politics in Richmond suddenly matters.

Three factors have driven this evolution -- the rise of former City Councilman Tim Kaine; the change from an appointed mayor to an elected mayor; and the abnormal placeholding of the mayor's office by celebrity politician Doug Wilder. The record turnout expected this year -- a result of the Presidential election -- probably hasn't hurt much, either. Nor has the massive influx of developmental capital and the real estate boomlet the city has experienced over the past decade.

This is the first mayoral election in Richmond where the game is competitive. The 2004 race with Wilder dancing his way into office was warm-up, but I'm still not convinced that this year's race is being played at the level Richmond needs or deserves.