FILE -Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., speaks during a news conference on national security legislation on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, in Washington. Democratic Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced Tuesday, April 23, 2024, that he is dropping his bid for Virginia governor in 2025 and will instead run for lieutenant governor. When Stoney entered the gubernatorial race in December, it set up a Democratic nomination contest with U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer who has cultivated an identity as a bipartisan consensus builder over three terms in Congress. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democratic Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced Tuesday he is dropping his bid for Virginia governor in 2025, avoiding a nomination contest with U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, and will instead run for lieutenant governor.

A former member of ex-Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s administration and a two-term mayor of the capital city, Stoney said he had wrestled with the decision since he and his wife welcomed their first child in March. While his campaign had sought to make the case in a memo just weeks ago that a Stoney-Spanberger primary would be competitive, he said Tuesday that “while there was a path to victory it was a narrow path.”

“After careful consideration with my family, I believe that the best way to ensure that all Virginia families do get the change they deserve is for our party to come together, avoid a costly and damaging primary and, for me to run instead for Lieutenant Governor,” Stoney said in a statement.

With the gubernatorial primary still more than a year away, there's still time for another Democratic candidate to emerge. But Spanberger, a former CIA officer who launched her campaign in November, is seen by Democrats and Republicans alike as a formidable candidate, with strong name recognition, a record of winning tough races and a centrist identity in a state that's tended to reward moderate candidates. Her bid could also be a history-making one: Virginia has never had a female governor.

Spanberger, who was first elected to Congress in 2018 as part of a wave of female candidates who helped Democrats retake the U.S. House that year, recently secured the nomination of Clean Virginia. The big-spending advocacy group founded by a wealthy investor to counter the influence of Dominion Energy at the state Capitol has given enormous sums to candidates it has backed in recent years and pledged an initial contribution of $250,000.

Her campaign said in a statement that Virginians were uniting behind her candidacy “because they know she has the experience to bring people together, get things done, and lead the Commonwealth forward.”

All three of Virginia’s statewide state government offices — governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general — are currently held by Republicans and will be on the ballot next year. Gov. Glenn Youngkin, like all Virginia governors, is prohibited from seeking a second consecutive term.

While no Republicans have formally announced statewide campaigns yet, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears are seen as likely contenders in the gubernatorial race.

Rich Anderson, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, suggested Democrats were “prematurely” jumping into the 2025 races amid the current federal election cycle due to concerns about what he said would eventually be a strong GOP ticket.

Virginia Republicans ”look forward to building on our groundbreaking wins of 2021," he said in a statement.

Stoney will join what's shaping up to be a crowded race for lieutenant governor, a role that involves presiding over the state Senate and is often a stepping-stone to higher office.

Shortly after Stoney announced his decision in an early morning news release, Democratic state Sen. Aaron Rouse formally announced his own candidacy for lieutenant governor. Rouse, a retired NFL player and former Virginia Beach councilman, said he had secured the support of more than two dozen elected officials around the state, including the state Senate budget committee chairwoman, Sen. L. Louise Lucas, and Sen. Mamie Locke, the Senate Democratic caucus chair.

“I’ve built my career on winning in tough spots when it matters — whether it be under the glare of NFL lights or flipping the State Senate seat needed to ensure we blocked Republicans’ assaults on reproductive freedom and voting rights,” said Rouse, who had a hand in some of this year's highest-profile legislation.

Dr. Babur Lateef, an eye physician and surgeon who serves as chairman of the Prince William County School Board, entered the race last month and other candidates from both parties are still expected to join.

Stoney, who launched his gubernatorial campaign in a video that highlighted his modest upbringing and the struggles he overcame to become the first in his family to graduate from high school and college, said he would use the lieutenant governor post to ensure every Virginia family gets the same “fair shot at success.”

News from © The Associated Press, 2024