List of mayors of Richmond, Virginia

The Mayor of Richmond, Virginia is the chief executive of the government of Richmond, Virginia, as stipulated by the city's charter.

Mayor of Richmond
Incumbent Danny Avula since January 1, 2025
Style	The Honorable
Term length	Four years (since 2005)
Inaugural holder	William Foushee, Sr.
Formation	July 2, 1782
Website	Office of the Mayor

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

Richmond's original City Hall building, used from 1814 to 1874

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,^[1] 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)

William Foushee, a physician, was the first Mayor of Richmond, Virginia

	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[2]		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)

	Portrait	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[note 1]	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)

	Portrait	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[note 2]	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[note 3]
70		Henry L. Marsh, III[note 4]	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)

	Portrait	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

Notes

1. After Ellyson's election, Mayor Chahoon challenged the new administration's legitimacy and refused to step down. The courts ruled in Ellyson's favor, and he was declared victor of the May election but refused the office because it was tainted by skullduggery. See Richmond's Municipal War.
2. Sheppard was the first female City Council member in Richmond as well as the first female mayor.
3. Between 1972 and 1976, city council elections were not held by order of the United States Department of Justice. See City of Richmond v. United States.
4. Marsh was the first African-American mayor of Richmond.