Levar Stoney

Levar Stoney
Mayor-elect of Richmond, Virginia
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2017
Preceded by	Dwight C. Jones
Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia
In office January 17, 2014 – April 15, 2016
Governor	Terry McAuliffe
Preceded by	Janet Vestal Kelly
Succeeded by	Kelly Thomasson
Personal details
Born	Levar Marcus Stoney (1981-03-20) March 20, 1981 Long Island, New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	James Madison University
Signature

Levar Marcus Stoney (born March 20, 1981) is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia and the current mayor-elect of Richmond, Virginia. He served as the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2014 through 2016, becoming the first African American to serve in this role and the youngest member of Governor Terry McAuliffe's administration.^[1]

Personal life

Stoney was born in New York and later moved to Yorktown, Virginia.^[2][3]

He attended Tabb High School in Tabb, Virginia and played as quarterback on the school's football team.^[4] Stoney is a 2004 alumnus of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where he was the first African-American elected president of the Student Government.^[5] He was a member of the school's College Democrats chapter.^[6]

Career

Stoney worked in organizer roles for John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.^[7] In the summer following his graduation from James Madison University in 2004, Stoney served as a Governor's Fellow in Mark Warner's administration.

Stoney worked for the Democratic Party of Virginia from 2006 to 2009, first as political director and then executive director.^[8] In this role, he worked extensively with President Barack Obama's successful 2008 presidential campaign.^[5] During the 2005 Virginia Attorney General election, he worked for Creigh Deeds' campaign, which was unsuccessful by 306 votes.

During McAuliffe's 2013 gubernatorial campaign, Stoney served as deputy campaign manager, under campaign manager Robby Mook.^[9] He was deputy director during McAuliffe's transition into office, a role in which McAuliffe described Stoney as his “closest adviser.”^[10] Stoney was appointed Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia by Governor-Elect Terry McAuliffe on November 18, 2013.^[10] Following confirmation by the Virginia General Assembly, he took office on January 17, 2014.

As Secretary of the Commonwealth, he has championed efforts to restore of voting rights for felons who have completed their sentences, an effort begun under Governor Bob McDonnell and accelerated under Governor Terry McAuliffe.^[11][12] Stoney said that "once you have served your time and paid your due, we still should not be punishing you years afterwards. Instead, we should find ways to give that individual an opportunity to better themselves and to contribute to society."^[11]

Stoney has been mentioned as a potential candidate in the Richmond, Virginia, mayoral election of 2016.^[13] He resigned as Secretary of the Commonwealth on April 15, 2016.^[14] Stoney was elected the Mayor of Richmond winning five districts and attainning 33% of the citywide popular vote. He is the youngest mayor to be elected in Richmond.^[15] Shortly after the election, Mayor-elect Stoney named Tiffany Jana and Bill Leighty as co-chairs of his transition team, with University of Richmond professor Thad Williamson named as director.^[16]

Controversy

In 2004, Stoney traveled to Wisconsin to work with the local Democratic party in a "get out the vote" effort. Five of his colleagues would later be charged with slashing the tires of a van meant to be used to drive Republican voters to the polls. Stoney initially lied to police claiming he had no knowledge about the incident. He would later admit to FBI investigators that he was present in the Democratic campaign offices after his colleagues came in to brag about slashing the tires. Stoney then went on to testify against his colleagues and fully cooperated with law enforcement. After questioning during a committee meeting with Virginia Republican lawmakers about his indiscretion, it was accepted as "an isolated, youthful mistake." ^{[17][18] [19]}

Electoral history

References

External links

• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• "Hon. Levar Stoney (D)". National Association of Secretaries of State. 
• "Levar Stoney Biography". Commonwealth of Virginia.