Richmond City Council District 6 incumbent candidate Claudia Jimenez increased her lead in the race to keep her seat, according to unofficial county election results released Friday.
Her race against Shawn Dunning raised the most money among the council races via both donations to the candidates and to efforts for and against their election. The two have raised more than $100,000 vying for the seat.
As of Nov. 22, Jimenez was winning with 61.3% of the votes cast in the District 6 race, with Dunning’s percentage decreasing to 38.6%.
Jimenez released a statement earlier this month declaring victory and thanked her supporters for their confidence in her leadership.
“I am still committed to ensuring that those who are struggling the most in our city receive the support they need so that everyone can thrive,” she wrote. “I will keep on building an effective and responsible city government that is truly accountable to all Richmond residents.”
At an election night watch party held by Dunning at El Agave Azul, his supporters shared why they voted for him, initially expressing optimism about his chances before the results came in.
Among a trio of supporters, Daniela Perez sat at a table discussing the District 6 race. Perez said she was impressed with Dunning’s position and said she voted for him because he offered a more open line of communication than Jimenez.
Perez, who voted for Jimenez in 2020, said she changed her vote from the RPA-backed candidate to Dunning because she felt she did not know fully about the policies when she cast her vote four years ago. She said she initially voted for Jimenez because she identified with her as a Latina with similar lived experiences.
“When I met Shawn I believed in his message that he would bring people together,” she said. “It made me look more into the ideas a candidate presents more than just their identity.”
Another supporter, 36-year resident of the North and East Steve Seskin, said that he previously supported Dunning during his mayoral campaign and was voting for him again because of he offers a perspective other than that of the RPA-backed majority council.
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“I feel really good about what we’ve done. I didn’t sacrifice any of my integrity in this process. I feel proud.”
— Richmond City Council candidate Shawn Dunning
“It seemed like he was the only person I ever met in politics that truly was going to try to serve all of the constituents, and I’ve not felt that with city council members of the past,” Seskin said, adding that he believes elected city officials have become harder to reach.
“The RPA candidates, one of my major objections to them is their block voting,” he said. “I don’t feel like that really represents me. It’s like ‘my way or the highway.’ I’m not always going to agree with Shawn, but at least I feel like he’ll listen to me and hear me out.”
Dunning said on election night, regardless of the result, he was happy with his campaign and has no regrets.
“I feel really good about what we’ve done. I didn’t sacrifice any of my integrity in this process,” he said. “I feel proud.”
Jimenez, who was first elected to represent the district in 2020, hopes to continue building upon her track record — a highlight of which was her role in landing a $550 million settlement from Chevron for removing an oil refining tax that would have been on the ballot.
She was also instrumental in a 2021 vote to reallocate $3 million from the Richmond Police Department’s unfilled positions to fund alternative responses to armed law enforcement: YouthWORKS; the Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS), which works to reduce gun violence, unhoused intervention services through SOS Richmond; and the Community Crisis Response Program (CCRP).
Because of her positions on public safety, she has been the subject of a $22,000 campaign against her re-election funded by the Richmond Police Officers Association PAC, an independent expenditure committee.
Jimenez received endorsements from current RPA-backed councilmembers Mayor Eduardo Martinez, outgoing District 5 councilmember Gayle McLaughlin and District 1 incumbent Melvin Willis.
Richmond election results
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She received endorsements from the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) — one of two groups that proposed putting a refinery tax on the November ballot — and local labor groups such as SEIU Local 1021, Richmond Firefighters Local 188 and IFPTE Local 21.
Dunning has positioned himself as the antithesis of his opponent. He has been critical of the current council’s approach toward public safety and was endorsed by Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston, adding that he would provide more collaborative leadership to the council.
Dunning also has been endorsed by local trade union groups such as Operating Engineers Local 3 PAC and the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council Small Contributor Committee.
His recent run for office was a 2022 mayoral bid, which he lost to Martinez.
Dunning has also been the subject of political fundraising opposing his election. East Bay Working Families, which gets most of its funding from SEIU 1021, a union representing employees in local governments, nonprofit agencies, health care programs and schools throughout Northern California, reported spending about $7,000 supporting Jimenez and about $4,700 opposing Dunning.
Both Jimenez and Dunning reported receiving the most cash among the three council races — totaling $105,481.81 so far this year, according to campaign finance reports.
Leading up to the election, residents of District 6, which includes the North and East and East Richmond neighborhoods told Richmondside that the main issues affecting their neighborhoods are homelessness, traffic safety, affordable housing and crime.
District 6, which has 19,240 residents, had the third-most registered voters (11,302) and voter turnout (8,935) of Richmond’s six council districts in the 2020 election ranking behind District 4 (12,648 registered voters, 10,318 voter turnout) and District 5 (11,302 registered voters, 8,934 voter turnout), according to city data.
Comparatively, District 1, which had a population of 19,495, had the lowest registered voters (8,487) and the lowest voter turnout (6,595).
