Election 2014
In one of her photo essays, City of Pride and Purpose, artist Mindy Pines, captures Richmond on election day.
Chevron-funded spending committees backed several losing candidates – to the tune of $3.1 million – on Election Day. Those who were defeated are now left to wonder what happened and whether Chevron’s money may have hurt rather than helped.
Three minutes past midnight, Eduardo Martinez walks out of the Richmond Progressive Alliance office. He turns around and stares back in. Still no final result. He waves goodnight to his supporters. It’s Martinez’s third time running for the Richmond City Council.
In the dark morning hours of Nov. 4, Election Day, Enrique Suarez del Solar quietly seals the envelope of his wife’s birthday card and places her present on the table. Then del Solar heads out to volunteer at the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church as a poll worker.
Richmond is one of the few major (100,000-plus population) Bay Area cities still electing its council and school board members on an at-large basis, a 100-year old system that’s been under attack throughout California and the country as minority-repressive.
Tom Butt looked tired. At 8:00 p.m. on Election Day he finally sat down, stein of beer in hand, to wait for the results. He had been on his feet all day. Twelve hours earlier, the mayoral candidate had arrived to the first polling place on an itinerary of five, to do last-minute outreach.
“It looks like the campaign is over and Butt is your new mayor,” Bates conceded. “Everyone that Chevron supported was unsuccessful.”
A long and tense day brought an end to an election that looks set to bring a David v Goliath story.
Money ran the race on Tuesday’s school board elections, with the best funded candidates Block, Kronenberg and Cuevas winning the seats of the West Contra Costa Unified School District.