DANVILLE — Rickey Williams Jr., the current mayor of Danville, announced his re-election bid on Tuesday.
“The number one question everyone has been asking me the last couple of months is, ‘Are you running for re-election?’ And the answer is absolutely,” Williams shared in a video on social media. “I’ve had no greater honor than being your mayor, and I’m incredibly proud of everything my team and I have done to make Danville a better place to live, work, invest, and play.”
He ended his short 34-second clip with, “just remember, a vote for me in February during the primary or April is a vote for proven progress.”
Williams joins the ring of now five candidates in the Danville Mayoral race, joining Doug Ahrens, Rev. Frank McCullough, Tricia Teague and Dennis Witsman.
If all five candidates that have announced their intentions to run for mayor file the necessary paperwork with the Danville Election Commission by Oct. 26, a primary election will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2027 to trim the competition down to two for the Consolidated Election on Tuesday, April 6, 2027.
A hot topic of discussion for months was the mayoral salary increase of $20,000 that was approved on June 2. Teague and Ahrens, both stated they did not think one was necessary, and both voted against the the increase.
However, Williams was for the raise, stating again and again that it was not for “him” but for whoever took on the role.
“This is not about Rickey Williams,” he said. “This is about the future of Danville, and at a better salary, it’s more fair, and you have an opportunity to recruit a higher candidate pool.”
Williams has served as the mayor of Danville since 2018, when he was named acting mayor, and then won his election bid in 2019 and we re-elected in 2023.