District 5

In District 5, Daniel Heiss has apparently agreed to stand down and allow only one candidate, Ahmad Anderson, to challenge RPA candidate Sue Wilson. In the past 20 years or so, with 2020 as an exception, the RPA has ascended to full City Council control, seldom breaking above about 40% of the vote. Although Gayle McLaughlin received 51.75% of the vote in 2020, Sue Wilson is relatively unknown. With the exception of 2020, RPA victories have had the benefit of multi-candidate races that have divided the opposition vote. A lot of credit is due to Daniel Heiss for putting the future of Richmond above any of his personal aspirations. It shows a lot of courage.

Ahmad Anderson is the son of two former Richmond mayors, his father Booker T. Anderson and his mother, Irma Anderson. Ahmad has more than 20 years of experience driving business improvements with an expertise in human resources. He has led DEIB/JEDI initiatives and developed organizational strategies at many organizations from Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit, and educational organizations.

He also brings civic experience as the City of Richmond’s chair of the Economic Development Commission, Board of Directors of Richmond’s Chamber of Commerce, City of Richmond NAACP former Executive Committee Member, Vice President Oakland Rotary Endowment,  author of “This is Bear Territory Cheer” and 2022 Cal Athletics Hall Of Fame Inductee. Ahmad is also the CEO / Founder of Designing Effective Organizations -Human Resources and Business Consulting.

Ahmad earned his B.A. in political science from UC Berkeley in 1983. He worked in the College of Letters and Science as an Academic Advisor for UC Berkeley’s Intercollegiate Athletics Student Athletes 1984–1986 and served as a Dean’s Representative focusing on Academic Policies and Procedures in the College of Letters and Science 1986–1996. He is a member of the chancellor’s Diversity Committee and advisor to UC Berkeley Fraternities Alpha Phi Alpha Inc and Gamma Zeta Alpha Inc.

District 1

In District 1, Dr. Jamelia Brown appears to be the only challenger to RPA incumbent Melvin Willis. RPA incumbent Melvin Willis garnered 58.15% of the vote in 2020, but like Jimenez appears vulnerable due to a lot of bad decisions of the Richmond City Council and a failure to communicate with constituents.

District 6


So far, RPA incumbent Claudia Jimenez has drawn only one announced challenger, Shawn Dunning, who has been campaigning hard since last year. In 2020, Jimenez broke the RPA traditional 40% ceiling with 54.17% of the vote and two challengers. She will be hard to beat, but she has turned off a lot of people by her failure to communicate with her constituents