Oct. 14--The Richmond City Democratic Committee's controversial endorsement of Dwight Clinton Jones for mayor has been overturned.

The state Democratic Party's 3rd and 7th Congressional District committees knocked down the endorsement, saying the bylaws did not allow the unscheduled vote Sept. 25. The rules do not allow the introduction of new business at meetings.

The 3rd and 7th district committees' decision was announced yesterday after a vote by conference call Sunday night.

The endorsement is critical in the five-candidate mayoral race, because it could determine which candidate is listed with presidential candidate Barack Obama on Democratic sample ballots.

Yesterday, Jones, a member of the House of Delegates, did not rule out an appeal to the Democratic Party of Virginia to try to keep the endorsement, but he said he will wait to see whether the city committee schedules another endorsement vote, as recommended by the 3rd and 7th district committees.

City committee leaders were trying yesterday to organize a meeting to determine the next step, which could include a vote Oct. 23.

"We're open to a fair process," Jones said.

He said the question remains whether his opponents will try to use their influence to keep another vote from taking place. He said the first vote got snagged on a technicality and that does not diminish his support among city Democrats.

Paul Goldman, a mayoral candidate who challenged the endorsement vote, said he remains skeptical that any vote would be fair.

"They thought the last process was fair," he said of Jones and his supporters.

Richmond City Council President William J. Pantele, who along with Robert J. Grey Jr. later joined Goldman's appeal, praised the decision to overturn the endorsement. A party appeals subcommittee had recommended last week that the endorsement be overturned.

"We feel vindicated," Pantele's campaign manager Craig Bieber said. "As we said all along, this process has been hopelessly tainted from start to finish, and this is further evidence of this."

Asked about a potential re-vote, Bieber said, "Right now, that process is very unclear, so we'll withhold comment and judgment on that."

"It's unfortunate that the process for endorsement was tainted by members of the committee who had a separate agenda to undermine the vote and will of the people," Grey's campaign manager, Lisa Fulton, said in an e-mail.

"It's disappointing that Del. Jones did nothing to repudiate the process along the way. The way he has handled this situation is proof that he'll take nothing but old style politics-as-usual and back room deals to City Hall."

Also yesterday, Jones and Goldman continued to attack Pantele, saying the council president and Mayor L. Douglas Wilder have been irresponsible in responding to the economy's troubles and in allowing a $6 million deficit to go unaddressed 3 1/2 months into 2008-09.

"I'm calling on him to take charge of the city budget," Jones said of Pantele.

"We need some serious people for a change," Goldman said.

"Rev. Jones and Mr. Goldman are merely parroting Doug Wilder's misrepresentations about the city budget while trying to claim credit for the auditor's recommendations that I have been urging Mayor Wilder to adopt for the past several months," Pantele responded.

Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or wjones@timesdispatch.com.

-----

To see more of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.timesdispatch.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.