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Mayor. L. Douglas Wilder

Wilder Won’t Seek 2nd Term

   RICHMOND, Va.—L. Douglas Wilder, the nation's first elected black governor, announced last Friday (May 16th)  that he would not seek re-election as the Mayor of Richmond,  ending a stormy term and likely bringing his storied political career to a close.
Wilder, 77, announced his plans to retire in a meeting with Richmond city department directors, then issued a news release.
"I'm not seeking re-election. I've done everything you can do," Wilder said in a television interview.
The grandson of slaves was elected governor of Virginia in 1989. He won a term as mayor of the majority-black city of Richmond in 2004 with 80 percent of the vote.

Posted May 21, 2008

  
But his approval has plunged amid poor relations with City Council and the school board. His decision to leave office does not come as a surprise because of his sinking popularity, and he had not mobilized a re-election campaign. Several rivals, including a popular Democratic state legislator and an estranged longtime Wilder adviser, announced their candidacy weeks ago.
Wilder's mayoral troubles came to a peak last fall when he sought to carry out an unannounced nighttime eviction of the school board during a fight about funding and accountability.
A court halted the chaos in a dramatic midnight hearing.
—From The Daily Voice

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