With last Tuesday’s elections now over, attention has already turned to the next mayoral race in 2010. Today’s Pilot has a couple of articles of interest.
Everybody’s running
Seems that nearly every council member is throwing their hat in the ring. The only ones not mentioned as doing so is Don Williams and the newly elected Terry Whibley. Randy Wright, who barely beat an unknown challenger last week, says he’s in. Daun Hester has previously said she’s in. Both Barclay Winn and Paul Riddick say they are in if Paul Fraim decides not to run.
Fraim for governor?
In a related article, political analyst Larry J. Sabato says that Paul Fraim has a shot at running for governor. Seems there is talk around the state that he could be the successor to Tim Kaine in 2009. Sabato said “It’s well known that Tim Kaine asked him to run for lieutenant governor in the last election and, had he run, I think he would have won.” Fraim says he’s not interested.
What I’ve heard
Both of these articles lend credence to what I heard last Wednesday, the day after the election. I hear that Paul Fraim will not be running for re-election in 2010 and will instead move on to higher office. Sabato says governor, but I think it more likely to be lieutenant governor in 2009 and governor in 2013.
I also hear that many on council have committed to supporting Barclay Winn for mayor in 2010. The twist to this is that Winn will be in the middle of his term on council (the superward election will be in 2008, for a four-year term) and he will have to give up his seat in order to run for mayor. (The Herb Collins rule.) The open superward seat will be filled by council and I hear they will fill it with Randy Wright, which will leave that seat open to be filled by council. The person who will fill the Ward 5 seat is the son of one of Wright’s long-time friends.
Any wonder why we never get any new blood in Norfolk?
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Lt. Governor? Uh oh, somebody tell David Englin.
Yeah, Lt Gov. Do you think Fraim could make a run for governor? Has anybody ever jumped directly from mayor to governor?
John Garland Pollard, mayor of Williamsburg, was elected Governor in 1929. He had been Attorney General during World War I. I remember reading somewhere (no citation at hand) that there was only one 20th century Virginia governor with any experience on a city council or county board, and I assume Pollard was it. This could help explain the state’s unwillingness to address the needs of local governments. One can only hope that Tim Kaine’s election marks the start of a new and better trend for Virginia’s cities.
OK so it’s been a while since it happened 😉 and I assume you mean he had been state AG during WWI, giving him some statewide name recognition. I certainly am hoping that Kaine will use his mayoral experience to help the local governments, which have been roundly ignored in recent years. My big hope is that he will – as he told me shortly after he was elected Lt Gov – support a loosening of the Dillon Rule. That alone will help localities tremendously.