# List of mayors of Richmond, Virginia

Elections in Virginia :
Federal government
U.S. President
1788–89
1792
1796
1800
1804
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1788
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1804 (sp)
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1814 (sp)
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1827
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1832 (sp)
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1834 (sp)
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1839
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1841 (sp)
1845
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1850
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1861 (sp)
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1870
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1893 (sp)
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1904
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1911
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1912 (sp)
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1918
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1922
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1928
1930
1933 (sp)
1934
1936
1940
1942
1946
1946 (sp)
1948
1952
1954
1958
1960
1964
1966
1966 (sp)
1970
1972
1976
1978
1982
1984
1988
1990
1994
1996
2000
2002
2006
2008
2012
2014
2018
2020
2024
2026
U.S. House
1789
1790
9th sp
1793
1795
1797
1798 (9th sp)
1799
1800 (13th sp)
1801
1803
1804
5th sp
13th sp
1805
13th sp
1807
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1809
21st sp
1st sp
1811
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1814 (11th sp)
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1818 (19th sp)
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1st sp
1920
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1946
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1974
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1990
1991 (7th sp)
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2001 (4th sp)
2002
8th
2004
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2007 (1st sp)
2008
2010
2012
2014
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10th
2020
2022
2023 (4th sp)
2024 :
State government
Governor
1776
1851
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C
U
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Lieutenant Governor
1973
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Attorney General
1993
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2005
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1967
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State elections
1989
1991
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2005
2006
2007
2008
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2010
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2012
2013
2014
2015
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2018
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2025 :
Ballot measures
Statewide
1970
1972
1974
1976
1977
1978
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1982
1984
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1987
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2010
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2014
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2018
2020
Fairfax County
2016 :
Alexandria
Mayor
2012
2015
2018
2021
2024
(List) :
Henrico County
Commonwealth's Attorney
2011
2015
2019 :
Norfolk
Mayor
2006
2010
2014
2016
2020
2024 :
Richmond
Mayor
2016
2020
2024 :
Virginia Beach
Mayor
2008
2012
2016
2018
2020
City Council
2020 :
vte :
The Mayor of Richmond, Virginia is the chief executive of the government of Richmond, Virginia, as stipulated by the city's charter.
This list includes mayors who were appointed by the Richmond City Council as well as those who were elected by popular vote.
The current Mayor of Richmond, Virginia and 81st in the sequence of regular officeholders is Democrat Danny Avula, who has served in the office since January 1, 2025.

## History

The City of Richmond was founded in 1737 by William Byrd II.
In May 1782, the Virginia General Assembly expressed desire to move inland, to a place less exposed to British incursions than Williamsburg. Richmond had been made the temporary capital after urging from Thomas Jefferson years earlier, and it was soon decided to make the move permanent.
Two months later, on July 2, a charter was written up, and the city was incorporated. Twelve men were to be elected from the City at-large and were to select one of their own to act as Mayor, another to serve as Recorder and four to serve as Aldermen. The remaining six were to serve as members of the Common Council. All positions had term limits of three years, with the exception of the mayor who could only serve one year consecutively. A vote was held at a meeting the following day and Dr. William Foushee, Sr. was chosen as the first mayor.
In March 1851, the decision was made to replace the original Richmond City Charter. It was decided that all city officials were to be popularly elected. After the 12-year tenure of William Lambert and his short-term replacement by recorder Samuel T. Pulliam, elections were held, with Joseph C. Mayo coming out on top. Mayo was deposed in April 1865, weeks before the end of the American Civil War, when Union forces captured the city.
The system set forth by the Second City Charter worked as long as the city was small and most voters knew personally, the qualifications of the men for whom they were voting and the requirements for the jobs to which they were elected. Beginning in 1948, Richmond eliminated the popularly elected mayor's office, and instituted a council-manager form of government. This lasted until 2004, when the City Charter was changed once again, bringing back the popularly elected mayor. Former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder was elected mayor that year. Of Virginia's 38 cities, only Richmond does not have a council-manager form of government.

## List of mayors
### Appointed mayors (1782–1853)

| | Mayor | Political party | Term start | Term end |
| 1 | William Foushee, Sr. | No party | July 3, 1782 | June 30, 1783 |
| 2 | John J. Beckley | No party | July 1, 1783 | July 6, 1784 |
| 3 | Robert Mitchell | No party | July 7, 1784 | 1785 |
| 4 | John Harvie | No party | 1785 | 1786 |
| 5 | William Pennock | No party | December 10, 1786 | 1786 |
| 6 | Richard Adams, Jr. | No party | 1786 | February 21, 1788 |
| 7 | John J. Beckley | No party | February 22, 1788 | March 9, 1789 |
| 8 | Alexander McRobert | No party | March 10, 1789 | March 9, 1790 |
| 9 | Robert Boyd | | March 10, 1790 | 1790 |
| 10 | George Nicolson | | 1790 | December 12, 1790 |
| 11 | Robert Mitchell | | December 13, 1790 | 1791 |
| 12 | John Barrett | | 1791 | 1792 |
| 13 | Robert Mitchell | | 1792 | 1793 |
| 14 | John Barrett | | 1793 | 1794 |
| 15 | Robert Mitchell | | 1794 | 1795 |
| 16 | Andrew Dunscomb | | 1795 | 1796 |
| 17 | Robert Mitchell | | 1796 | 1797 |
| 18 | James McClurg | | 1797 | 1798 |
| 19 | John Barrett | | 1798 | 1799 |
| 20 | George Nicholson | | 1799 | 1800 |
| 21 | James McClurg | | 1800 | 1801 |
| 22 | William Richardson | | 1801 | 1802 |
| 23 | John Foster | | 1802 | 1803 |
| 24 | James McClurg | | 1803 | 1804 |
| 25 | Robert Mitchell | | 1804 | 1805 |
| 26 | William DuVal | | 1805 | 1806 |
| 27 | Edward Carrington | | 1806 | 1810 |
| 28 | David Bullock | | 1810 | 1811 |
| 29 | Benjamin Tate | | 1811 | 1812 |
| 30 | Thomas Wilson | | 1812 | 1813 |
| 31 | Robert Greenhow | | 1813 | 1814 |
| 32 | Thomas Wilson | | 1814 | 1815 |
| 33 | Robert Gamble | | 1815 | 1816 |
| 34 | Thomas Wilson | | 1816 | 1817 |
| 35 | William H. Fitzwhylson | | 1817 | 1818 |
| 36 | Thomas Wilson | | 1818 | May 4, 1818 |
| 37 | Francis Wicker (acting) | | May 5, 1818 | 1819 |
| 38 | John Adams | | 1819 | 1826 |
| 39 | Joseph Tate | | 1826 | 1839 |
| 40 | Francis Wicker | | 1839 | 1840 |
| 41 | William Lambert | Democratic | 1840 | March 24, 1852 |
| 42 | Samuel T. Pulliam | Democratic | March 25, 1852 | 1853 |

### Popularly elected mayors (1853–1948)

| | Mayor | Political party | Term start | Term end |
| 43 | Joseph C. Mayo | Democratic | 1853 | April 3, 1865 |
| Fall of Richmond (April 3, 1865) - City under federal authority until appointment of David Saunders as mayor ||||||
| 44 | David J. Saunders | Democratic | July 3, 1865 | April 6, 1866 |
| 45 | Joseph C. Mayo | Democratic | April 7, 1866 | May 4, 1868 |
| 46 | George Chahoon | Republican | May 6, 1868 | March 15, 1870 |
| 47 | Henry K. Ellyson | Democratic | March 16, 1870 | June 30, 1871 |
| 48 | Anthony M. Keiley | Democratic | July 1, 1871 | June 30, 1876 |
| 49 | William C. Carrington | Democratic | July 1, 1876 | June 30, 1888 |
| 50 | James Taylor Ellyson | Democratic | July 1, 1888 | June 30, 1894 |
| 51 | Richard M. Taylor | Democratic | July 1, 1894 | 1904 |
| 52 | Carlton McCarthy | Democratic | September 1, 1904 | August 31, 1908 |
| 53 | David C. Richardson | Democratic | September 1, 1908 | September 3, 1912 |
| 54 | George Ainslie | Democratic | September 4, 1912 | 1924 |
| 55 | John Fulmer Bright | Democratic | 1924 | 1940 |
| 56 | Gordon Barbour Ambler | Democratic | 1940 | 1944 |
| 57 | William C. Herbert | Democratic | 1944 | September 10, 1946 |
| 58 | Horace H. Edwards | Democratic | September 11, 1946 | 1948 |

### City Council appointed mayors (1948–2005)

| | Mayor | Political party | Term start | Term end |
| 59 | W. Stirling King | Democratic | 1948 | 1950 |
| 60 | T. Nelson Parker | Democratic | 1950 | 1952 |
| 61 | Edward E. Haddock | Democratic | 1952 | 1954 |
| 62 | Thomas P. Bryan | Democratic | 1954 | 1956 |
| 63 | F. Henry Garber | Democratic | 1956 | 1958 |
| 64 | A. Scott Anderson | Democratic | 1958 | 1960 |
| 65 | Claude W. Woodward | Democratic | 1960 | 1962 |
| 66 | Eleanor P. Sheppard | Democratic | July 1, 1962 | June 30, 1964 |
| 67 | Morrill Martin Crowe | Democratic | July 1, 1964 | June 30, 1968 |
| 68 | Philip J. Bagley, Jr. | Democratic | July 1, 1968 | June 30, 1970 |
| 69 | Thomas J. Bliley, Jr. | Democratic | July 1, 1970 | March 7, 1977 |
| 70 | Henry L. Marsh, III | Democratic | March 8, 1977 | June 30, 1982 |
| 71 | Roy A. West | Democratic | July 1, 1982 | June 30, 1988 |
| 72 | Geline B. Williams | Republican | July 1, 1988 | June 30, 1990 |
| 73 | Walter T. Kenney, Sr. | Democratic | July 1, 1990 | June 30, 1994 |
| 74 | Leonidas B. Young, II | Democratic | July 1, 1994 | June 30, 1996 |
| 75 | Larry E. Chavis | Democratic | July 1, 1996 | June 30, 1998 |
| 76 | Timothy M. Kaine | Democratic | July 1, 1998 | September 10, 2001 |
| 77 | Rudolph C. McCollum, Jr. | Democratic | September 11, 2001 | January 1, 2005 |

### Popularly-elected mayors (since 2005)

| | Mayor | Political party | Term start | Term end |
| 78 | Douglas Wilder | Democratic | January 2, 2005 | January 1, 2009 |
| 79 | Dwight C. Jones | Democratic | January 1, 2009 | December 31, 2016 |
| 80 | Levar Stoney | Democratic | January 1, 2017 | December 31, 2024 |
| 81 | Danny Avula | Democratic | January 1, 2025 | Incumbent |