'Gumby' Breton wins 1st District City Council race

Andrew “Gumby” Breton won Richmond’s 1st District City Council Seat on Tuesday night, picking up nearly half of the in-person vote in the three-candidate race. 

Breton will replace Andreas Addison, who vacated the seat to run for mayor. 

In a phone interview Tuesday night, Breton said his policy priorities include increased walkability in the city.

“The 1st District residents are attracted to a vision of Richmond that is green, walkable and affordable, and they are looking for a City Council that is effective and collaborative,” Breton said. “The spirits are high here, because we’ve all worked very hard for this.” 

Breton said he intends to spend his first days in office listening and learning from experienced councilors. 

“It’s really going to take actually learning from the incumbent returning councilors, understanding the way that they work, the projects they’re already working on and the priorities that they have,” he said. “City management is going to be a main priority, and that’s going to be working in collaboration with the new mayor and the new CAO to understand how we’re going to improve city services to get the results we’re looking for.”

Breton said he really enjoyed the process of running, and hopes the other candidates feel the same way.

“I was in a race with three excellent candidates, all of whom are an asset to the city, all of whom kept this race very positive,” he said. “You don’t see that very much in politics, and so it was really refreshing to see that.”

With 9 of 10 precincts reporting, Breton had 49% of the vote, compared to 29% for longtime Richmond political presence Paul Goldman and 21% for Zac Walker.