Election Results: shakeup in Richmond’s first primary as incumbent Mayor Martinez’s chances fade, with Jiménez taking a strong lead
on June 3, 2026
Richmond City Councilmember Claudia Jiménez held a comfortable lead in the Richmond mayoral primary election with all precincts reporting early Wednesday morning. Ahmad Anderson was in second place, as votes continued to be tabulated.
Voters used the primary to send a message to Mayor Eduardo Martinez, who sat in the middle of the pack of five candidates on election night, months after facing a possible council censure for social media comments that many construed as antisemitic.
Three council seats also were up for grabs, and all three incumbents — Cesar Zepeda in District 2, Doria Robinson in District 3, and Soheila Bana in District 4 — appear to have survived challenges.
The primary was the first for Richmond, thanks to a 2024 ballot measure backed by 58% of Richmond voters. Unlike in previous years, when voters had to choose among a large field of candidates for each office in the general election, this year they made those choices early. In November, no more than two candidates will compete for each seat, guaranteeing that no one gets elected unless they have received more than half the votes.
If a candidate secures more than 50% of the primary election vote, they win the seat, which appears to have happened in the three council districts, where all but District 2 had multiple candidates.
But the election is not over. Contra Costa County will be counting ballots until June 9, giving ballots mailed on the Election Day deadline seven days to reach the elections office. As of Tuesday night, only 20% of Contra Costa voters has cast ballots, and only 19% voted in Richmond’s mayoral election. Votes won’t be certified until early July.
With about 11,400 votes cast, Jiménez was ahead with 34% of the vote; Anderson, whose parents both served the city as mayor, had 29%; Martinez, who became the first Latino elected mayor in 2022, had 22%; former Councilmember Demnlus Johnson III got 10%; and Mark Wassberg, 6%.
Robinson, executive director of the food nonprofit Urban Tilth, secured 68% of the 1,100 votes cast — representing a 15% turnout in District 3. Challenger Brandon Evans had 32%.
Bana, a former engineer who, like Robinson, is finishing her first council term, garnered 67% of the 2,800 votes cast in District 4, ahead of Jamin Pursell, with 25%, and Keycha Gallon, with 8%. Turnout in that district was about 22%.
If the results hold, Richmond voters will only be asked to vote for one office, mayor, in the Nov. 3 general election.
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Progressive candidates Claudia and Eduardo together gathered 55% of the vote
This suggests the progressive movement is very strong in Richmond.
There are excellent reasons why the progressive movement is strong in the city. Richmond is thriving under progressive leadership. And the leaders have not become beholden to corporations or to developers. Those two statements being true at once is an amazing and rare accomplishment. We are in a city where human rights are respected, and people with challenging life situations are treated with dignity. The current leadership approaches problem-solving that gets at the root causes and does not fall for the age-old and consistently failed punishment oriented approach to those in need of support. Three cheers for Richmond!