"I don't like mudslinging," says Donnie Corker. "I want to do things for the people."

Donnie Corker, a cross-dressing South Richmond resident better known as "Dirtwoman," said yesterday that he's serious about running for mayor of Richmond.

Campaign workers said they have started collecting signatures to get Corker, 56, on the Nov. 4 ballot. The filing deadline is June 10. A campaign poster sent with an e-mailed news release announcing his candidacy features a shirtless Corker draped in an American flag and posed as the Statue of Liberty.

He has been talking about running for mayor since his voting rights were restored by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine in 2006. Corker lost his rights after a felony sodomy conviction decades ago.

"I don't like mudslinging. I want to do things for the people," he said.

So far, the other declared candidates are Paul Goldman, a former aide to Mayor L. Douglas Wilder; and Del. Dwight Clinton Jones, D-Richmond, a pastor who represents the 70th District in the General Assembly.

Wilder and City Council President William J. Pantele have not said whether they intend to run.

Corker said a few people have tried to dissuade him from running.

"I'm not dropping out," he said.

If elected mayor, Corker said he would work to clean up the city government and cooperate with the School Board to improve city schools. He also said he would look to reduce city spending on office space by moving more offices into City Hall.
Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or wjones@timesdispatch.com.