Election day is June 2, 2026. Vote by mail ballots went out yesterday.
Because of Measure J of 2023, the Richmond City Charter was amended to require a primary election. If one of the candidates does not receive a majority of the vote in the primary, the top two
will face off in the November general election. Prior to the passage of Measure J, the candidate who was the top vote getter won in the general election. The result is that many city council members and mayors have been elected when more people voted for someone
else than voted for the winning candidate. For example, in the 2022 election, Eduardo Martinez won with only 39.2% of the vote, meaning
60.8% of voters voted for someone else. When Gayle McLaughlin was first elected mayor, it was with 37.7% of the vote, meaning
62.3% voted for someone else. Four years later, McLaughlin increased her margin to 42%, meaning
58% still voted for someone else. A Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) mayor has
never received a majority vote.
The main benefactor of the system in place before Measure J has been the RPA, which continues to control the City Council and, therefore, the City. Richmond has been governed by mayors and City
Council members elected by a minority of its voters for several years now. It makes no sense. This will never happen again, and we have an opportunity to start anew with the 2026 election.
My recommendations in the 2026 election are all non-RPA candidates. I think most of us are pretty much fed up with the continuing drama, controversy and discord that the RPA brings to the City
of Richmond and the City Council. The RPA first emerged as a power when they challenged Chevron’s influence in City government, a position that proved to have a certain popularity. They weren’t alone; however, several non-RPA City Council members were already
there, including me.
At first, the RPA embraced issues of growing popularity. In addition to challenging Chevron, they took on climate change, environmental issues, and protecting Richmond’s burgeoning immigrant
community. You could work with them. They helped me bring MCE in as Richmond’s electricity provider, helped me preserve the Riggers Loft and helped me get the Red Oak Victory into Basin 5 next to the Riggers Loft.
But eventually, they used their new power to ignore many Richmond issues and pivot to broad social, national and international affairs instead of focusing on local everyday issues that directly
affect Richmond residents, such as crime, dumping, speeding, sideshows, fireworks, jobs, homelessness, and the condition of streets and parks. They have caused homebuilding to stall because of their bias against new housing. Their continuing animosity towards
police has resulted in a police force that is too small to do its job, causing excessive overtime, stressed out of officers, an increase in petty crime, lack of traffic enforcement, sideshows, illegal fireworks and illegal smokeshops. Finally, their bias against
any kind of business has shut down economic development in Richmond. People care about jobs, and most jobs, as well as taxes, come from the business sector. The RPA is, like Trump, vindictive. In 2021, Jimenez, McLaughlin, Willis and Johnson all voted to censure
me because a corrupt city attorney told them to. They also wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money suing me and investigating me, hoping to find some dirt, but never did. They are hypocritical, flouting their own laws, while expecting others
to conform.
An infuriating trait that all RPA City Council members share is a lack of transparency. They don’t take phone calls (except from their friends) and rarely respond to emails. Thay don’t communicate,
are always right (and self-righteous), and never compromise. They criticize corruption in others but have plenty of their own.
My Recommendations.
Mayor: I recommend Ahmad Anderson (https://www.anderson4richmond.com/):
He is the only candidate, other than unhinged Mark Wassburg, that isn’t associated with or sucks up to the RPA. He is a progressive, but not a radical. He knows that housing, economic growth, public
safety and a healthy business community are essential for Richmond’s future. He is the son of two former Richmond mayors – his father Booker T. Anderson and his mother, Irma Anderson. He is endorsed by our state senator, Jesse Arreguin, our assemblyperson,
Buffy Wicks, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Thurmond, the California Democratic Party, the Contra Costa Building and Construction Trades Council, and many others.
Anderson’s opponents are Demnlus Johnson, a former City Council member with an unremarkable record, current City Council member Claudia Jimenez and current Mayor Eduardo Martinez. All three of
them are against fully funding the police department. It was Demnlus Johnson who in 2020, started dismantling the RPD by introducing a proposal to
develop a plan to transition from the city’s successful community-policing model to a new version that works with a smaller staff.
Martinez distinguished himself last year and made headlines by cross posting false antisemitic pieces on social media, which triggered a widespread call for his censure and resignation. Jimenez is known for a lack of transparency with her constituents.
She led the fight to establish rent control and then failed to register and report her own rental unit. She took campaign contributions from cannabis sellers and then violated the Levine Act by voting for them without recusal. For years, she directed public
funds to an organization led by her (now ex) husband. She is violently anti-police.
Figure 1 – Ahmad Anderson
City Council District 3: I recommend Brandon Evans (https://www.evans4richmond.com/):
This is another contest between the RPA-aligned incumbent, Doria Robinson, and a moderate progressive, Brandon Evans. Evans majored in urban studies and city planning at San Franciso State University
and has been active in Richmond governmental and nonprofit organizations for years, especially those involving youth. He beat out Doria Robinson by 15 points in the West Contra Costa Democratic Club straw poll. He is endorsed by independent City Council member
Dr. Jamelia Brown and a majority of the West Contra Cost Unified School District Trustees.
Although Doria has made quite a name for herself as both executive director and board member of Urban Tilth, which was originally a community agriculture nonprofit but is now a multimillion-dollar
organization with significant real estate investments that funnels public funds to her friends in multiple unincorporated organizations impossible to trace. One of her biggest cash benefactors is her significant other, Najari Smith, who shares both occupancy
and ownership of a home with her. Robinson and Smith have been involved in multiple shady real estate deals and were sued by a tenant for unlawful eviction. They were defended by Urban Tilth’s insurance lawyer, who also works for the City of Richmond. Robinson
remains under investigation by the FPPC for failing to disclose conflicts of interest. In short, Robinson is a grifter that comingles the finances of the City and her nonprofit. She needs to be removed from City Council.
Figure 2 – Brandon Evans
District 4: I recommend Soheila Bana (https://www.soheilabana4richmond.org/):
Soheila, who has a compelling personal story of fleeing oppression in Iran, is laser focused on her district. Her work in wildfire prevention, fuel reduction, evacuation and safety has been a game changer
addressing a threat unique to her district. She also took on soil runoff in the El Sobrante hills. She “reached across the aisle” to get Claudia Jimenez to cosponsor a work plan for badly needed improvements for La Moine (“Cheese”) Park. Bana supports public
safety and voted to continue using Flock cameras. With a PhD in electrical engineering and a career with CalTrans, Bana has the best technical background on the City Council. She is endorsed by District Attorney Diana Becton, former City Council member Nat
Bates, and a host of construction trade unions.
Bana’s opponents are Keycha Gallon and Jamin Purcell. Unlike incumbent Bana and former RPA candidate Purcell, Gallon is relatively unknown and hasn’t gotten much traction. Her campaign has focused
on gun violence, and she may have a future in Richmond politics, but probably not now. Bana’s other opponent, Jamin Purcell, is a flip-flopper who ran on the RPA ticket just two years ago. His LinkedIn page shows his only employment as a “political
campaign coordinator” for the RPA. Seeing the future of the RPA in Richmond fading, Purcell now claims be a recovered RPA member, or maybe they just cut him loose as a liability, but RPA affiliate Doria Robinson still endorsed him. Even though he is running
in District 4, he spoke against the Cheese (La Moine) Park agenda item sponsored by Bana just to try to discredit her and opposed City sponsorship of the El Sobrante Stroll, the area’s most important community event.
Figure 3 – Soheila Bana
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