Dwight Jones, Mayor of RichmondDoug Wilder.
Biography
Jones was born in Philadelphia, PA. He graduated from Virginia Union University in 1970 with a B.A. in Sociology. After returning to earn a Master of Divinity degree from VUU, Jones went on to complete his Doctoral degree at the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.[1]
Additionally, Dr. Jones holds honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees from the Richmond Seminary and the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology in Virginia.[2]
He is a divorced father of three children. Two are fraternal twins (one boy, one girl) and an older son.
Career
Dr. Dwight Jones served as the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of South Richmond. Until 2001, Jones was concurrently serving as the Senior Pastor of the St. James Baptist Church in Varina.
Jones was first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1993 and has served as a delegate from the 70th district since 1994.
He served as a member of the Richmond City School Board in 1979 and then again chairman from 1982-1985.
His community involvement includes past or present service in the following community organizations:[3]
- Richmond Renaissance (former chair)
- MCV Hospital Authority
- Metro Richmond Convention and Visitors Bureau
- Richmond Red Cross
- YMCA Board of Directors
- Richmond Commission on Human Relations
- Virginia Commission on Immigration
- South Richmond Senior Center
- Imani Intergenerational Community Development Corporation
2008 Election Results
After a week of vote counting after the November 4th general election, Jones was declared the winner by the Richmond Electoral Board on November 11th. He received 34,513 votes to runner-up William Pantele's 29,143. Third place finisher Robert Grey received 18,576 and fourth place went to Lawrence Williams with 1,596.
The popular vote does not decide the election. Rather, the Mayoral candidates must win five of the nine districts in the city. Jones won six districts (the 9th, 8th, 7th, 6th, 5th and 3rd) and Pantele won the remaining three.[4]
External Links
- Office of the Mayor Retrieved 1.20.09
- DwightJonesForMayor.com Campaign Site Retrieved 1.20.09
