With only 10 days left until the June 17 Democratic primary, former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney stopped in Alexandria Saturday afternoon for a meet-and-greet with some of his most influential Northern Virginia supporters.
Facing five opponents in what’s expected to be a low turnout primary election, Stoney said that, if elected, he’d focus on housing affordability. He was flanked at MacMillan Spirit House (500 Montgomery Street) by his mentor, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins, City Council Member John Taylor Chapman, Arlington County Board Vice Chair Matt de Ferranti and Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano.
“There are a million renters in this state, and more than half of them spend more than a third of their annual income on housing costs,” Stoney said. “We need to build more housing in Virginia, we need to build more supply to meet the demand, and I think it’s important that the Commonwealth play a more intentional role in incentivizing local housing reforms.”
Stoney currently leads his opponents in fundraising, with $1.4 million raised and $522,000 in his campaign war chest, as of March 31, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. He faces Babur B. Lateef, Sen. Aaron R. Rouse, Victor R. Salgado, Sen. Ghazala F. Hashmi, and Alexander J. Bastani. Voters are also choosing between two contenders in the Attorney General Democratic Primary – Shannon L. Taylor or Jay C. Jones.
Gaskins said that Stoney was quick to call her office after January’s fatal crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
“When our community suffered the horrific plane crash at DCA, Levar was one of the first people who reached out to me and said, ‘Mayor, what do you need?'” she said. “I constantly receive texts from him reaching out to say, ‘What’s going on in Alexandria. What else can I learn? What do I need to understand about the issues you are facing?’ That’s the type of leadership I want in Richmond. I want somebody who understands that we have ideas, we have a vision for our city, and it’s Richmond’s job to help bring that vision to life, not to tell us how to do it, or to dictate what that should look like, but to be our partner in getting it done. I know he’s going to be that leader.”
Under then-Gov. McAuliffe, Stoney was the youngest-ever Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a position he had for two years until his election as Richmond’s mayor (also the youngest-ever at 35) in 2017. He was reelected in 2021 and finished his second term in January. Stoney is well known for Richmond’s removal of Confederate monuments,
“It was indeed challenging,” Stoney said. “Threats on my life. I still live with that today, but it was the right thing to do.”
McAuliffe said turnout will be low on June 17, and that President Donald Trump’s low approval ratings in Virginia will have an impact in the general election this November. Trump lost Virginia by five percentage points in the 2024 election.
“Most likely the people who are going to win the primary are going to get elected in the general election,” McAuliffe said. “(Stoney) will be with you through thick and thin. He loves a good fight. We’ve got to take it to Donald Trump. We’ve got to protect our state.”
Stoney also has support from former Alexandria Congressman Jim Moran (D-8), former Mayor Justin Wilson, and Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter, all of whom didn’t attend today’s event.
Stoney said that the Trump administration is targeting Virginia with cuts to the federal workforce and in the administration’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill.
“One in seven workers in Virginia is tied to the federal government,” Stoney said. “This could crater our economy, and then to take another cruel effort in cutting out the social safety net. This Big Beautiful Bill is diabolical and disgusting, because it’s cutting out the social safety net on the most vulnerable people in this state.”
Stoney continued, “What you will get with a Democratic ticket, which I will be on, is a Democratic ticket that will fight for the jobs, fight for those lives that will be unfortunately lost if you cut the social safety net. I tell you this, folks, Donald Trump has a penchant for punching down on, he’s shown it time and time again, Black people, working class people, Brown people, women, the LGBT. He does this, but I can guarantee you this, when I’m elected lieutenant governor, I will punch back.”
