The Richmond City Democratic Committee endorsed Del. Dwight Clinton Jones for mayor in a surprise vote that's drawing protests from his opponents and some party leaders.

The committee was not scheduled to consider an endorsement at Thursday's meeting, but that changed with a motion from the floor to support Jones. The vote prevailed easily among the approximately 100 members present, committee Chairman Eric Payne said.

Ophelia Daniels, an executive committee member, said the endorsement was railroaded and that the group's approximately 200 members should have been given a chance to hear from the candidates and know when an endorsement would be considered.

"It doesn't meet the smell test for fairness," she said yesterday of the vote for Jones.

While Richmond's mayoral race is officially nonpartisan, the Democratic endorsement is a prize considering the city's party leanings as well as Barack Obama's candidacy for president. Some of Jones' opponents acknowledged that the endorsement, however controversial, gives him an advantage.

"Sure, it makes him the front-runner," said mayoral candidate Paul Goldman, a former state Democratic Party chairman who plans to challenge the endorsement. "This is a Democratic city. That's why they did it."

Kevin O'Holleran, Jones' campaign manager, rejected accusations that the endorsement is tainted. He said committee members responded under party rules after learning that the executive committee had decided that no endorsement would be made. Several party leaders said yesterday that the decision was merely a recommendation.

"What's more democratic than the whole city Democratic committee having a vote on what they wanted to do?" O'Holleran asked.

Leah Walker, who made the motion in favor of Jones, said it was a response to the executive committee's decision to not offer a process to consider an endorsement. She said she believed the executive committee took such a stance because its members believed Jones likely would get the endorsement.

"I felt like they were trying to do something sneaky," she said.

Goldman said backers of candidate William J. Pantele had been trying to block any endorsement, only to have the move backfire with the vote for Jones. Pantele's campaign manager, Craig Bieber, denied the allegation.

At a joint news conference, candidate Robert J. Grey Jr., a lawyer; Pantele, the City Council president; and several committee leaders called on Jones to reject the endorsement so the matter could be reconsidered. Goldman held a separate news conference earlier denouncing the endorsement.

"Citizens have told us over and over again that they want to reject backroom politics," Grey said. "That's what exactly this is."

Pantele called it "an endorsement by ambush" and said he would have rallied his supporters if a vote were anticipated. He plans to relay the concerns to the Democratic Party of Virginia in case there are plans to place Jones' name on a Democratic sample ballot.

Candidate Lawrence E. Williams Sr. criticized the lack of a process to consider the endorsement, saying it shows Richmond's preference for personalities over ideas.

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