2028 Election — Mayor of Richmond
Richmond Mayor · 2028 · educational cover · city-run action · American Future Type
This is Side Two
This page is the arena for this office, this cycle. Unique teaching for the job lives on the office twin.
It is not a campaign. Names belong on the official sample ballot.
When
- Next regular Mayor election: 2028 (four-year presidential-even clock; last Mayor election 5 November 2024)
- Not 2026. The Virginia Department of Elections city-council calendar puts Richmond’s Mayor in 2028. 2026 is U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and House of Delegates — not this Mayor.
- How it is won: most votes in at least five of nine council districts. If no one does, runoff on the sixth Tuesday after November between the top two citywide.
This is not a Governor race. Virginia’s Governor is on a 2025/2029 odd-year clock, a different office. Norfolk is not this fall line. Virginia Beach is not this city.
Who is on the ballot
Do not take names from a news comment or a text thread.
- Official candidate list / sample ballot — Richmond Elections
- rva.gov
- Current Mayor of record — Mayor’s Office
- Registration — Virginia Department of Elections
If a site and the official sample ballot disagree, the sample ballot wins.
What you are hiring
You are hiring the Mayor of Richmond for this independent city — four years, strong-mayor charter, nine district council members as the check, no third consecutive full term. Read the office page first. Politics, law, technology, justice, ministry, education, intelligence, and outreach on this land are the job. Not a slogan.
Remedy — an independent-city complaint is a city paper
A resident who was mistreated files on the city’s official complaint and professional-standards doors, not on a comment section. Police professional standards, fire investigation, the City Council as a check, and the courts. The Richmond City Sheriff’s jail desk is not this Mayor’s complaint box. Send people to rva.gov.
Relief — the James before the state desk
A James River flood at the falls, a heat night in a brick neighborhood, a Shockoe fire. Mutual aid with Henrico and Chesterfield is real. Those jurisdictions are not Richmond’s firehouse. The Governor’s emergency desk is later. This hydrant is first. The ocean is east. It is not this fall line.
Service — what a five-district hire actually buys
Papers the city has to serve. Transports. A ladder company on Broad Street. Streetlights. A 311 that tells the truth. The staff is the office. A serious Mayor is a serious principal: clear priorities, honest service, no rumor as policy.
Due process — five districts, not a 2026 transplant
Arrest, booking, presentment, property, permits, hearings. The Constitution does not pause because a radio is busy. Civil service and union clocks are real. The five-district rule is unique to this city. Do not teach a shortcut. Do not move this race onto the 2026 statewide ballot.
Rights — Southside is on this hire too
Counsel. Property. Peaceable assembly on Capitol Square and in the neighborhoods. Equal protection from the West End to Southside. The Mayor is a servant of this city, not a brand. Norfolk does not vote here. Richmond does.