He may be running for Mayor of Richmond but Dwight Jones has friends in Hampton Roads. Sunday afternoon, some of them gathered for a fundraiser for him.
The event came on the same day that The Richmond Times Dispatch released its poll showing that the race for mayor is a virtual tie between Jones and City Council President William J. Pantele.
A Richmond Times-Dispatch Poll conducted last week showed Pantele with a statistically insignificant lead over Jones, 32 percent to 30 percent, as the race enters its final days.
Robert J. Grey Jr. was running third with 13 percent, followed by Paul Goldman and Lawrence E. Williams Sr., each with 2 percent.
Twenty-one percent were undecided, according to the poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research of Washington.
Jones’ TV ads began running Monday.
Wow. He actually identified himself as a Democrat in that ad! Good for him! Has anyone else this year run with a party label on their advertisements? As I’m not familiar with the Richmond area, I wonder if that will help him with those undecided voters.
Terry Rea, who does live in Richmond, wonders about the Wild(er) card and where the current mayor’s supporters will go. Will Wilder endorse before next Tuesday?
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
I’m from Richmond and as someone who closely follows politics and knows about all these candidates, I’m still undecided about the mayoral race.
This is just the second time in modern times in which Richmond voters will directly choose the mayor. Before 2004, it was done by the City Council (which chose Tim Kaine to be mayor in 1998, which was one of the best things it ever did). The races are supposed to be “nonpartisan”, but everyone knows that all the candidates are Democrats, especially Rev. Jones, who has been a longtime delegate from the Southside of Richmond and part of Chesterfield County.
Councilman Pantele represents the district where I grew up. He’s done an “ok” job, but judging by the poor condition of the roads and general infrastructure in my district, I still don’t know about him. Rev. Jones seems like a good man, but he hasn’t really done anything that compels me to vote for him. I also find it a bit funny that in 2004, he opposed voters directly voting for the mayor, citing the Voting Rights Act. Now, he wants to be mayor? That seems a bit odd to me. Williams has good ideas, but seems to have little traction. Grey seems the most promising of them all, but some say he’s too closely tied with Wilder. I think Grey is his own man, but again, I don’t think he has given a compelling reason of why I should be supporting him.
I am a native Richmonder and care deeply about who will lead it, so I am a bit frustrated that I am still undecided at this point. There might be a “Wilder” card phenonemon, but my sense is that most of them will gravitate to Grey. Wilder isn’t too fond of Pantele or Jones. A runoff election will occur in December if none of the candidates wins 5 of the 9 city council districts. With 21 percent of folks undecided, a candidate could surge at the last minute, but the races seems a bit too volatile, even at this late date. Only time will tell who will win.