Levar Stoney was Richmond’s mayor from 2017 to 2024, after serving as secretary of the commonwealth during Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s administration.
Now, Stoney is hoping to serve at the state level again. He’s one of six candidates in the June 17 Democratic primary for lieutenant governor; the winner will face Republican John Reid for the office currently occupied by Republican gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears.
VPM News state politics reporter Jahd Khalil recently spoke to Stoney about his campaign, as part of a series of conversations with all six Democratic candidates for the state’s No. 2 job.
Stoney said he’s the most experienced candidate for the job, having held both local and statewide offices. He pointed to his achievements as mayor — including an increase for city school funding and a decrease in crime — as examples of successes during his tenure.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Jahd Khalil: Can you tell us where we are and how this place has changed?
Levar Stoney: We are at the Southside Community Center. The Southside Community Center was a recipient of American Rescue Plan Act dollars that the city had utilized during my tenure. Our vision was to make this a real, true, multiuse venue for children, for adults, for seniors; this is probably the finest community center in Central Virginia.
Why are you the best person to be the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor?
I think it's important to highlight lived experience.
I'm a child born to a couple teenagers. Mother was 16, father was 18. [I] had the blessing to be raised by my grandmother and became the first of my family to graduate from high school, go to college and graduate from college. And I think having that lived experience is very important, because right now there are a number of Virginians who are struggling.
I have that experience, seeing that as a young man, but also I have a body of work as the former mayor of Richmond and also secretary of the commonwealth. I'm the only person running for lieutenant governor who has executive experience.
I’m glad that you brought up your time as secretary of the commonwealth, because a lot of the focus in the media is about your time as mayor. How do you think your time as secretary of the commonwealth will lend itself towards being lieutenant governor?
The way that Gov. McAuliffe allocated roles in his Cabinet, I was essentially the right hand to the governor. And so for roughly two-and-a-half years, I had a chance to see a state government up close and personal at the executive branch level, and exactly where the lieutenant governor sits in the hierarchy here in state government.
I got a chance to work with Republicans and Democrats to ensure that our boards and commissions were diversified, whether demographically or geographically as well. And it was a great foundation for my experience in public service. It allowed me to be, I think, a pretty decent mayor as well. I think having that experience at the state level, it matters. I won't need on-the-job training. Let's just say that.
You wanted to run for governor initially, and the lieutenant governor position is often seen in Virginia politics as a stepping stone to that office. What do you want to tell voters who might think of your running in that light?
Well, you know, I decided in April of 2024 to defer the nomination to my friend Abigail Spanberger and pivot to the lieutenant governor's race. A couple things happened in my life that I think need to be highlighted. No. 1: Me and my wife had a child. We have a 15-month-old at home; our child was born in March of 2024.
I took my month of paternity leave, and me and my wife were able to discuss how we wanted to approach the race. Moving forward, I decided that what was best for me and my family — but also best for the for the party as well — [was] for me to step aside and and Abigail Spanberger [to] become the nominee.
When I joined the race for lieutenant governor, I knew from day one that this was not going to be a gimme. It wasn't going to be a layup. This was going to be something that one would have to earn. And from that day on, from April of 2024 till today, I put out there earning it.
There are some official duties of the lieutenant governor: breaking ties in the Senate, serving next in the line of succession if the governor is unable to serve. What would you bring to the role as lieutenant governor?
Well, you know, it's a little bit different than the role I had as the mayor of Richmond, where I was the chief executive of a municipality. This one will be more about public advocacy. There are some statutory responsibilities: breaking ties in the Senate; presiding over the Senate; assuming the role of governor if anything were to happen to the governor; serving on some boards; driving business to the state, also Virginia tourism.
But I think beyond the statutory duties, it’s very important that the lieutenant governor be a public advocate. Tim Kaine is my model for this; when he was lieutenant governor — a former mayor who became lieutenant governor — he traveled [to] every school division and was an advocate for more funding, more investment in public education.
I plan to follow that same playbook as the next lieutenant governor and talk about housing. If there's one thing I'm going to ask Gov. Spanberger for in terms of a line of work, it would be to be the leader on all things housing in Virginia.
We need to build more housing and incentivize localities to do more in terms of pro-housing reforms at the local level.
You're very proud of your record as mayor. [But] I think that also gives critics things that they can criticize about you. What do you want to tell people that look at your time in Richmond with some criticism?
First, I would say, look at where Richmond is today compared to where it was a decade ago. I can tell you this: By every measure, Richmond is a better place to live for Richmonders; it's a better place to visit for Virginians.
That just didn't happen by happenstance. It took a lot of people moving in the same direction to make that happen. I'd like to think — well, I know — that local government under my leadership had a role to play there. There are more homes here; there are more people here; there are more jobs here. There's more cranes in the sky. There's less poverty and less crime after my tenure. I'm proud of that.
Have there been setbacks? Yes. When you are the chief executive of a municipality in an urban environment, you are certainly going to face your fair share of setbacks. But I've never run away from the problems of the city; I invested in fixing the problems. That's why we saw an increase in school funding by nearly 60%. That's why you saw more affordable homes built under my tenure. That's why you saw poverty fall by 33%.
And [on] the major issue of whether or not we should continue to embrace Confederate monuments in Richmond, I stood up and did the right thing, and we removed every single damn Confederate monument in the former capital of the Confederacy.
What else do you think is important for Virginia voters to know about your run for lieutenant governor? I think it's important that the voters know that I'm the most experienced person in the race. I've had 10 years of public service experience, a couple years serving as the secretary of the commonwealth in Gov. McAuliffe's Cabinet, where I was the youngest member of the Cabinet and the first African American to serve in my role as secretary of the commonwealth.
I think it's important that folks know that I'm the only chief executive in the race. Eight years as mayor of Richmond, the only person to lead a locality. I had to make consequential decisions, bold decisions, in the daily lives of people. I think that's very important right now, that folks understand that I'm an experienced hand. I don't need on-the-job training. I'll be ready to go on day one. I think that's what we need right now.
People are willing to roll up their sleeves, and even though it may seem dark and gloomy because of what's going on in Washington, DC, we can bring some optimism and hope back to the Commonwealth of Virginia and be a competitor at all levels.
