And now, a moment of silence by the local media corps. L. Douglas Wilder’s departure from the mayor’s suite in Richmond City Hall should leave local news gatherers in a state of mourning.

Richmond Mayor-elect Dwight Clinton Jones reached out today to more than 40 leaders in a wide range of fields to prepare his transition to the top job at City Hall. Jones expanded his mayoral transition team to 45 leaders, including corporate executives, public finance experts, political leaders and business owners—even a former professional basketball star. The team is divided among 10 areas of public policy—budget and finance, education, public safety, community development, economic development, human services, parks and recreation, transportation, employee relations, and information technology.

If the tangled vote tally holds up, Dwight Clinton Jones appears poised to become the Richmond rarity: a mayor from south of the James River. Jones won largely on his political strength on the city’s South Side, where he took the 6th, 8th and 9th districts handily. No one’s ready to say the balance of political power in Richmond has shifted from Main Street to Hull Street, but Jones’ victory strikes a blow for an area that has seldom received its proper share of care.

In a vote scarred by controversy, Dwight Clinton Jones tonight won the endorsement of the Richmond City Democratic Committee in his bid to become the city’s next mayor. Jones, who currently represents Richmond in the House of Delegates, won the group’s endorsement by about a 2½-1 margin over the other three candidates combined. The Democratic endorsement is key in the mayor’s race because it likely will determine which candidate is listed with presidential candidate Barack Obama on Democratic sample ballots.

In a vote scarred by controversy, Dwight Clinton Jones last night won the endorsement of the Richmond City Democratic Committee in his bid to become the city’s next mayor. Jones, who represents Richmond in the House of Delegates, won the group’s endorsement by about a 2.5-1 margin over the other three candidates combined. The Democratic endorsement is key in the mayor’s race because it likely will determine which candidate is listed with presidential candidate Barack Obama on Democratic sample ballots.

In a vote scarred by controversy, Dwight Clinton Jones tonight won the endorsement of the Richmond City Democratic Committee in his bid to become the city’s next mayor. Jones, who currently represents Richmond in the House of Delegates, won the group’s endorsement by about a 2-1 margin over the other three candidates combined. The Democratic endorsement is key in the mayor’s race because it likely will determine which candidate is listed with presidential candidate Barack Obama on Democratic sample ballots.

Richmond mayoral candidate Dwight Clinton Jones played a prominent role in presidential candidate Barack Obama’s rally at the Richmond Coliseum. Jones, pastor of First Baptist Church of South Richmond and a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, delivered the invocation to the capacity crowd. He appeared by himself, well before Obama took the stage, and was introduced as a delegate, not a candidate.

The chairman of the Richmond Democratic Committee says he mistakenly allowed a vote to endorse Del. Dwight Clinton Jones for mayor that violated the committee’s bylaws. Eric Payne told a five-member Democratic party appeals panel last that he was not aware when the vote was taken on Sept. 25 that committee rules do not allow new business to be introduced at party meetings.