The Readjusters lost control of the state legislature in 1883 after race riots in Danville, Virginia immediately before voting. Democrat Fitzhugh Lee became governor, defeating Readjuster John Sergeant Wise by 5% and succeeding Cameron in 1885. However, Readjuster Parson Massey won election as Lieutenant Governor in 1885. The collapse of the Readjuster party was also precipitated in part by its appointment of two freedmen to the Richmond school board. J. Taylor Ellyson, who would serve several terms as Richmond's mayor and later become Lieutenant Governor, was elected a state senator from Richmond on an anti-Readjuster platform.