UPDATE: Richmond City Council races: Two of three RPA candidates still lead

The Richmond Progressive Alliance has held a majority on the City Council since 2020 and held at least half of the seats for the past 10 years. This year, there were three seats up for election, which has the potential to flip the council. 

Early returns showed two RPA candidates — incumbent Claudia Jiménez and Sue Wilson — leading their opponents. A third, Melvin Willis, was in second place after all precincts had reported around 1:10 a.m. Wednesday. 

At an RPA election event at the organization’s offices on San Pablo Avenue, the smell of Middle Eastern food wafted through the party while Latin music played. About 40 people crowded into the single-room office, eating, chatting and drinking. It already felt like a celebration in anticipation of the polls closing. 

Just 15 minutes after polls closed, attendees squinted at the large TV, scrolling through the county elections results. Cheers rang out when they saw West Contra Costa Unified School District candidate Otheree Christian as well as Wilson, and Jiménez ahead. (In the vote count released early this morning, Christian was slightly trailing challenger Guadalupe Enllana.) Moans were audible when the measures came up and someone said “J is winning.” 

Measure J supports a primary election. The RPA is backing Measure L, which would bring ranked-choice voting to Richmond. Only one can win.

As people continued to arrive, event organizers folded up the tables to make room. People started to dance in the new found space.

In attendance were all three RPA City Council candidates, along with Christian and Jovanka Beckles, who is running for state Senate. Mayor Eduardo Martinez, who is not up for reelection, also was there.  

Wilson said she enjoyed the campaign and connecting with voters. 

“It was just really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get out there and talk to folks. And I hope that I’m elected, and I get to keep doing this.”

Wilson drove to each polling station in her district, called voters and then took a nap to prepare for a long night ahead.

Jiménez was at polling stations a 7 a.m and spent part of the day calling people. She said she spoke with one woman Monday who didn’t know if she had received her ballot and looked for it while they were on the phone together. Later, she sent Jiménez a picture of herself voting.

“I’m feeling good about leading, yeah,” Jiménez said. “It’s just hard with the national level.”

But a gloom hung over the room, as former President Donald Trump held a lead over Vice President Kamala Harris, a Bay Area native. 

“No matter what happens to the city elections if this doesn’t go our way, we’re going to be crushed,” Wilson said about Harris’ attempt at making history as the nation’s first woman president. 

(When the votes were certified on Dec. 3, Jiménez, Wilson and Brown were the winners on City Council, Enllana had taken Christian’s School Board seat, and Beckles had lost the state Senate race to Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín. In addition, Measure J passed, which means Richmond will add a primary election.)

Jamelia Brown

Brown was ahead of Willis and Mark Wassberg in District 1 Tuesday night, but with under 50% of the votes.

She was at the Nevin Community Center early Tuesday morning, chatting with voters.

“The first time I ever voted was 2008. I voted for Obama, and I cast my ballot right there in the Nevin Center,” Brown said. “And so to be actually on the ballot and to be able to cast my ballot again in the Nevin Center, is a full-circle moment.”

Brown said her campaign had volunteers at all three District 1 polling locations and offered rides to the polls to residents at the Hacienda Senior Community Center.  

“As the underdog, as the newbie runner, I have opted to spend my day rotating around the polling stations. I find that to be the best use of my time,” she said Tuesday night. “I plan to work until the last second, literally.”

Willis, who was trailing Brown by 12 percentage points, said Tuesday night, “I know there’s still more votes to be counted, but overall, at the end of the day, I ran the campaign I could with the capacity that I had. And then if voters decide that they want something else for District 1, well, at that point, it’s on them, and we did whatever we could.”

Ahmad Anderson

Ahmad Anderson, who was trailing Wilson in District 5,  wore a brooch featuring a photo of his mother, former Mayor Irma Anderson, and a T-shirt that read “Anderson for District 5,” as he refreshed his campaign results on his laptop at home, where he gathered with a few relatives and friends.

“I’m proud of my campaign,” he said. “In the coming days, I may do more reflecting — not just by talking to the people who voted for me, but also by understanding the views of those who didn’t.”

Shawn Dunning

Shawn Dunning seemed resigned Tuesday night to Jiménez winning in District 6. He said he called people to thank them for their help and support and he greeted voters at the Civic Center on Election Day.

“We ran an honest campaign. I sacrificed no integrity,” he said.

But Dunning said he thinks voters had misinformation about him, regarding campaign contributions from Chevron, which he said he did not receive, and which did not turn up in Richmond Confidential’s review of his campaign finance reports.

“None of my goals change.” he said. “I want to do what I can to leverage differences in Richmond for positive results. None of this changes how I feel about Richmond.”

Mark Wassberg

There was no party for Mark Wassberg, who ran against Willis and Brown in District 1. He also raised no money for his campaign. On Tuesday evening, he stood outside a polling station wearing a red MAGA hat and holding a sign that read “Support Mark Wassberg, Save Chevron.”

“I’m not even going to worry about it,” he said of the race. “When I leave here, I’m just going to go straight home, fix some dinner and watch some TV.”

Emily Elizabeth Evans and Daniela Jiménez contributed to this story.

(Top photo: Claudia Jiménez, smiling, and Sue Wilson, far left, on election night at Richmond Progressive Alliance headquarters, by Renée Bartlett-Webber)

This story was updated on Dec. 4 after the votes were certified in Contra Costa County.

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Campaign finance data: See how much each Richmond City Council candidate raised.