Former Del. Joseph D. Morrissey’s mayoral campaign faced criticism Monday after a top campaign official was quoted in a Canadian newspaper saying Morrissey would be the “real first black mayor of Richmond.”
If elected, Morrissey, who is white, would follow two popularly elected black mayors, former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder and sitting Mayor Dwight C. Jones, as well as seven black mayors appointed by the City Council.
The Toronto Star — which compared Morrissey to the late Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who was re-elected after being filmed smoking crack cocaine — attributed the comment to Morrissey’s campaign manager, Deborah Repp.
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“A lot of people say Joe Morrissey will be the real first black mayor of Richmond,” Repp, who is white, told the Star. “He’s the only one the black community trusts to represent them at the negotiating table.”
Morrissey addressed the uproar and Repp’s comments late Monday: “I totally disagree with the comments attributed to my campaign staffer Debbie Repp,” he said. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for our previous mayors, many of whom I consider dear friends.”
Morrissey’s opponents jumped on Repp’s comments.
“It’s insulting,” said former Secretary of the Commonwealth Levar Stoney, the first African-American to serve in that state role.
“We all stand on the shoulders of people like Henry Marsh, Rudy McCollum, Roy West, Walter Kinney, Doug Wilder, Leonidas Young. And to say that Joe Morrissey will be the first real black mayor of this city is spitting in the face of those individuals who have paved the path.”
Stoney called on Morrissey’s campaign to apologize or disavow the comments.
Reached by phone, Repp said she was accurately quoted but that the comment was taken out of context. She said the comment followed a comparison to Bill Clinton, who is sometimes referred to as the first black president.
“My response was that a lot of people might say the same thing about Joe Morrissey — that he’s the first black mayor of Richmond,” she said. “It’s in the context that it seems fascinating to people when a politician of one race captures the hearts of another, and people want to understand what that’s about. ... It wasn’t in any way a reflection on previous black mayors of the city of Richmond.”
Repp said she does not believe an apology is warranted.
The flare-up is a testament to the tense racial politics at play in the election.
Last week, Morrissey held a news conference at his Highland Springs law office to denounce former U.S. Rep. Tom Bliley and Richmond Times-Dispatch political columnist Jeff E. Schapiro.
Morrissey criticized Schapiro for describing Morrissey as “having an enduring appeal to the city’s underclass,” a statement Morrissey said is demeaning to his primarily black base of support. And he took issue with Bliley, a supporter of former Venture Richmond director Jack Berry, for advocating for Jonathan T. Baliles to drop out — a strategy he said was a veiled call to unite white residents around a single candidate.
This is the first election in which the city’s racial divides have played such an apparent role in a citywide mayoral contest, said political analyst Robert Holsworth, formerly with Virginia Commonwealth University.
The city’s first elected mayor under the new system of government instituted in 2004 was Wilder, who Holsworth said won with broad, biracial support. The 2008 contest that saw Jones elected to his first term was perhaps more divided, “but the reality is (race) wasn’t a major issue,” Holsworth said.
“What makes this contest so different is the nature of Morrissey’s candidacy,” he added. “You have a white candidate whose strongest support is in certain neighborhoods in the black community, and who has minimal support in the white community.
“It’s not that his support is uniform in the African-American community, but it’s strongest there.”
Morrissey has drawn rebukes from some who have accused him of exploiting African-Americans.
At a mayoral debate, architect Lawrence Williams, who is black, said Morrissey is using black voters for political gain — a charge Morrissey denied.
After Morrissey distributed a statement last week announcing his news conference denouncing Bliley and Schapiro, Henrico County Board of Supervisors Chairman Tyrone E. Nelson, who has endorsed Stoney, tweeted in response: “Press conferences keep him in the news while he panders......we don’t need a Savior.”
Owen Cardwell, a pastor at New Canaan International Church, attributed the heightened racial tension surrounding the mayoral election to the overall political climate.
“There’s a division that’s being played upon, and rather than seek to heal those divisions, people are utilizing that division for their own personal and political gain,” Cardwell said.
His comments came at a news event Monday organized by a Morrissey campaign staff member in which a group of 10 black pastors gathered to further condemn Bliley’s remarks, which they described as “despicable rhetoric.”
Asked about Repp’s statements, Cardwell said Morrissey’s campaign needs to address the issue, but stopped short of demanding an apology: “It is totally inappropriate. It’s just as inappropriate as saying Bill Clinton is the first black president.”
Not everyone, however, found offense. “It’s apparent that those who are opponents of Morrissey are trying to make a big deal out of it when I haven’t seen very many of them — if any — stand up on racial issues in Richmond and the commonwealth of Virginia,” said King Salim Khalfani, a former state director of the Virginia NAACP.
The current mayor, Jones, seemed baffled by the comments.
“In terms of being African-American, you can’t fake it,” Jones said. “A leopard can’t change its spots.”
Reached by phone, Marsh, who is actually the first African-American to serve as mayor in Richmond, laughed when asked about Repp’s comments.
“Is Joe Morrissey black?” he asked. “That kind of speaks for itself, doesn’t it?” He declined to comment further.
Baliles, a councilman in the seven-way mayoral race who has come in fourth in recent polling, struck a bemused tone: “I think, excuse me, I know Doug Wilder would have something to say about that.” (Wilder could not be reached.)
In an emailed statement, Berry called the comments “shocking and incredibly disrespectful.”
The comment was not the only statement Repp made to the Star that has raised eyebrows. The paper quoted her describing how Morrissey’s wife, with whom he was convicted of having an inappropriate relationship when she was 17, “is now idealized by some black women as the fulfillment of every girl’s ‘princess’ fantasies.”
“Most women have a soft spot in our heart for a bad boy,” she told the Star. “And when the bad boy is also good-looking …”
Stoney said Repp’s assessment is wrong.
“They don’t desire a bad boy,” he said. “They desire someone who their children can be proud of.
“They desire someone who’s going to ensure that we are going to be focused on their quality of life instead of someone’s individual personal problems. This is a great city, and it doesn’t deserve to be caught up in some fantasy.”