The 2016 contest to pick Richmond’s next mayor got a new and very interesting entrant (potentially) in 1st District council member Jon Baliles:
The son of former Gov. Gerald L. Baliles, Jonathan Baliles was elected to the council in 2012 to represent the West End’s 1st District.
The letter could be seen as the first official foray in the race to succeed Mayor Dwight C. Jones as the city’s third popularly elected mayor. But Baliles said he did not see the text of the letter before it went out roughly a week and a half ago, and the intent was to raise money for a council re-election campaign.
“I have to represent the residents of the 1st District first, but I haven’t ruled out anything else,” Baliles said.
Those of us who’ve been around long enough also remember his excellent blog, River City Rapids, where he offered some sharp analysis of the Richmond political scene.
Others are, naturally, interested in the high-profile post:
Councilman Chris A. Hilbert, who also represents the North Side’s 3rd District, has also voiced interest in a run for mayor. Hilbert, who became the council’s vice president early this year, works as a senior lending officer for the Virginia Housing Development Authority.
Other names frequently mentioned in the early mayoral speculation are Levar Stoney, a political confidante of Gov. Terry McAuliffe, and Richmond School Board member Jeff M. Bourne.
Stoney is currently Secretary of the Commonwealth and one of McAuliffe’s top political aides. If he makes a run (and all indications are that he is determined to do so), he will very likely have McAuliffe’s backing.
Or at least he will until the Dan Gecker story starts draining the Governor’s political capital among Democrats.
And let’s not discount the rumors Fightin’ Joe Morrissey (who is likely to attempt to sue his way onto the Senate primary ballot this year) could also get into the 2016 race.
The good copy will practically write itself…
