Manassas City Council unanimously appointed Council Member Ralph J. Smith as interim mayor on Oct. 26, 2026, with his term beginning Oct. 27 and running until certification of the November 2027 mayoral election.
Vice Mayor Mark D. Wolfe presided after former Mayor Michelle Davis-Younger’s resignation took effect Sept. 30. Davis-Younger had first said in February she would leave at the end of 2026, then moved the date up; Potomac Local News reported the city’s confirmation of the earlier exit and covered her final meeting on Sept. 28. Smith, Wolfe and Council Member Tom Osina had each made their case at an Oct. 5 special meeting, but council took no vote that night.
Smith joined the council as an interim member in August 2019 to replace Ken Elston and was elected in 2020; he was re-elected in 2022 and chose not to seek another term in the Nov. 3, 2026, election. A longtime Manassas resident and former senior executive at the Social Security Administration, he previously served as president of the Prince William Branch of the NAACP and as a longtime election official. His move to the mayor’s office creates a vacancy in his council seat that must be filled separately. The appointment ends the period in which Wolfe had been performing the mayor’s duties and places Smith in the role through the next municipal election cycle.
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Manassas City Council on Oct. 26, 2026, appointed Council Member Ralph J. Smith as interim mayor. The vote was unanimous among members present. Vice Mayor Mark D. Wolfe presided. The mayor’s seat had been vacant since Michelle Davis-Younger’s resignation effective Sept. 30, 2026. Smith’s term begins Oct. 27, 2026, and expires upon certification of the mayor’s election in November 2027. The appointment creates a vacancy in Smith’s council seat.
