NORFOLK, Va. — Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney has filed paperwork to run for Virginia governor in the 2025 election, entering a race that's expected to be highly competitive.
Stoney is the second Democrat to join the race to succeed the term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (VA-07) announced in November she would forego a fourth term in Congress to run for governor.
Stoney's campaign filed the paperwork with the Virginia Department of Elections on Monday. Last month, a spokesperson for Stoney said an official campaign launch would come later this year but didn't give an exact date.
Stoney has served as Richmond's mayor since 2017 and is currently in his second term. According to his online biography, he is the youngest serving mayor of the city. From 2014 to 2016, he served as Virginia's secretary of the commonwealth under then-Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
While Stoney hasn't officially launched his gubernatorial campaign, he attended an event in Virginia Beach with Louise Lucas, the president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate representing a district in Hampton Roads, on Wednesday. Lucas shared a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) of the event describing him as "our next Governor."
With less than two years to the 2025 election, Stoney and Spanberger's entrances are unusually early. In the 2021 gubernatorial election, Youngkin announced his campaign in January of that year, while McAullife, who was seeking a second non-consecutive term, entered in December 2020.
No Republicans have announced their candidacy for the 2025 gubernatorial race, but there is speculation that Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares may join the race, Axios Richmond reported earlier this year.
13News Now has reached out to Stoney's office for a comment on his candidacy but didn't get an immediate response by the time this article was published.