Will Richmond’s next mayor be a progressive, a moderate or a staunch conservative?

With Richmond’s mayoral primary election ballot now set, voters face a decision they haven’t seen in 20 years: A slate that includes two Richmond Progressive Alliance members, two moderates and a staunch conservative.

Progressive incumbent Mayor Eduardo Martinez is defending his seat against moderates Ahmad Anderson and Demnlus Johnson; pro-Trump conservative Mark Wassberg; and fellow RPA member and District 6 council member Claudia Jimenez, who received the group’s endorsement last month.

On Wednesday night, residents will get their first look at all the mayoral candidates during a Zoom forum for the Marina Bay Neighborhood Council’s quarterly meeting.

Read more of Richmondside’s primary election coverage here

It’s the first time in the RPA’s history that two of its members are vying for the same seat. This development has many Richmond politicos describing the city’s first primary as a pivotal one that may reshape the city’s next decade, especially given that the newly seated mayor and newly elected council members will join a council that will decide how to spend the $550 million Chevron settlement.

Martinez’s reelection bid and Jimenez’s mayoral RPA endorsement comes at a crucial point for the city’s progressive movement. The RPA has seen meteoric success in the last two decades but mostly since 2014 — an election cycle that saw the group and moderates, including then-mayoral candidate Tom Butt, form a loose alliance to defeat Chevron-backed candidates at the ballot box.

The divide, however, between the progressives and Richmond’s moderate, more traditional liberals, has widened in the last decade to a chasm. The progressives have historically approved a slate of candidates in non-competing races to consolidate their vote on the council. With multiple candidates splitting the moderate vote, it has allowed progressives to win by simply drawing more votes than their opposition.

Since then, RPA-affiliated council members  have implemented a number of progressive policies, including: Rent control in 2016; Measure U Gross Receipts Tax in 2020; the reallocation of $3 million from the Richmond Police Department’s budget in 2021; the sale of Point Molate to the East Bay Regional Parks District in 2024; and the $550 million Chevron settlement (which avoided putting the Polluters Pay oil tax measure on the ballot) in 2024.

But in 2024, those less enamored with some of the council’s progressive-minded decisions notched a win, persuading voters to pass Measure J, a ballot measure that changed the city’s election system, establishing a primary that requires a candidate to win a majority of 50% of the vote and, if not, to establish a run-off between the top two vote-getters in November. The measure was heavily financed by local trades unions and the Richmond Police Officers Association (RPOA) and has been seen as the way to stop the RPA by eliminating split votes.

When Jimenez spoke with Richmondside after her endorsement, she reiterated that progressives believe she is the right candidate for “this moment.”

“I think the moment where we are, Richmond is in a great space right now where the next 10 years could be potentially a really big change if we do it well and I feel like I have demonstrated that I can lead in things that are making a big impact in the city overall,” she said.

Both Jimenez and Martinez are credited with the success of various progressive policies. Both were on an ad-hoc committee that negotiated the $550 million settlement with Chevron, alongside vice mayor and District 3 council member Doria Robinson, who is also an RPA-endorsed candidate in the race for her council seat in the upcoming primary, though she is not an RPA member. Members of the organization pay monthly membership dues.

Martinez, who said he is still an RPA member despite losing its endorsement, is now dealing with the realities of the new primary system.

“I think the very fact that we are having primaries is a (political) shake up,” Martinez told Richmondside Wednesday. “I think what it is doing is making it more difficult for people who don’t have machines behind them to run a campaign because they are going to raise twice as much money and do twice as much work. So just getting past the first primaries will be an issue.”

Martinez said having a primary in addition to council districts, established in 2020, have made it easier for some candidates to find support. But for him, no longer having RPA support is  a “different animal.”

When asked about the RPA’s endorsement process, Martinez said he heard that  there were “things going on” but wasn’t notified firsthand. When asked if he could clarify that further, he declined.

“I’m a team player as long as people are working transparently with me,” Martinez said. “I’m willing to do what needs to be done. At this point, I’d let the RPA give you their perspective.”

When Richmondside spoke to Jimenez in the days leading up to her joining the mayoral race, she said that the group’s endorsement process had not changed.

“I want to be clear, RPA has a process that we have every time we endorse a candidate,” Jimenez said.

Jimenez said that although the RPA’s decision to endorse her and not Martinez  was a hard one, organizations and unions alike were “excited” about her candidacy.

Tom Butt, the former mayor of Richmond and author of an  online forum that analyzes Richmond politics, is critical of the RPA, telling Richmondside that he believes the moment is right for a moderate to win.

“I think all the past elections have shown you that the RPA has not been able to muster more than somewhere to the high 30%, low 40% (of votes cast),” Butt said. “I think if you’ve got a good opposition candidate up against an RPA candidate I think that the RPA candidate is going to lose.”

The RPA’s results in elections over the last 10 years have been mixed, with its victory margins sometimes slim. In 2022, Martinez only received 36% of the votes cast for mayor while Nat Bates received 29% and Shawn Dunning received 30%. In some district races in the past decade, however, the RPA had a slate of candidates, such as the one including Jimenez, in 2020, that swept decidingly in Districts 1, 5 and 6.

The issue moderates have faced, Butt added, is there is not one particular organization that is dedicated to representing moderate voters, though he gave credit to the RPOA for pushing to establish the new primary election system.

“You know the power in Richmond has always been the RPA. They’re a power player, and they’re allied with several very prominent nonprofits like AACE (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment) and APEN (Asian Pacific Environmental Network),” he said. “The RPA’s cash bank has always been SEIU (Service Employees International Union Local 1021) . So you got them out there. So what they’ve (SEIU) done is that in the elections, they’ve put a lot of money and a lot of people walking precincts and they’ve always supported RPA. There’s no organization out there … that supports other candidates. 
Basically, you know, they (non-RPA candidates) have had to run their own campaigns and raise their own money.” 

RPA member says supporting Jimenez is supporting progressive progress

For RPA progressives, such as Jeffrey Kilbreth, a 12-year Richmond resident and member of the RPA, the shift from endorsing Martinez to Jimenez is meant to preserve the progressive movement’s victories following the public relations crisis that erupted after Martinez shared on social media conspiracy theories about the Bondi Beach attack in December — something Kilbreth said is outside of a local mayor’s scope.

“Eduardo clearly cared more about supporting Palestine against this apartheid state of Israel. That was all fine, to care about the issue, but he went too far,” Kilbreth said in an interview with Richmondside. “By too far, I mean he put too much time into it and he wasn’t able to ever talk about the issue in a way that made Jewish people comfortable.”

In comparison, Kilbreth points to  recently elected New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani’s brand of “sewer socialism,” which saw Mamdani denounce the conflict in Gaza while championing  local infrastructure improvements and economic affordability in his campaign.

“He (Mamdani) made it possible to maintain unity,” he added. “He made sure to tell Jewish voters that this wasn’t about them but the state of Israel.”

In the aftermath of Martinez’s comments, Kilbreth said that progressives came to see a candidate  such as Jimenez would be “sharper” on topics such as economics and management while also being fluent in Spanish. For example, he credited Jimenez with “taking on the challenge” of fixing the city’s finances. 

During her campaign for District 6 in 2024, Jimenez said her proudest accomplishment was increasing the city’s reserves from 12% of its overall operating budget to 21%. She also said the council’s leadership helped turn a $90 million deficit into a surplus of $15.9 million, $8.8 million of which was allocated to the city’s Capital Improvements Program, which pays for things such as street repairs.

Kilbreth thinks that though the RPA has never seen an election with two members vying for the same seat, 80% to 90% of the “true progressive” movement will support Jimenez because of her accomplishments.

“I’m not worried about it. She’s just a stronger candidate,” Kilbreth said. “The only kind of person who wouldn’t (vote for her) would be people who are utterly and desperately committed to the Palestine issue. This, when you get right down to it, is not a Richmond issue. I say that as a person who cares a lot about this issue, my wife is Jewish, but it is not a top priority.”

Steve Early, RPA member and author of the book “Refinery Town,” which documented the RPA’s ascent into Richmond political influence, said the RPA’s decision to endorse Jimenez may benefit the progressives since she is the only woman running for mayor.

“She’s younger and has a solid track record for about one and a half terms,” Early said. “She’s beat stiff competition, is a hard worker and a strong campaigner. I wouldn’t downplay the importance of her being younger and a woman.”

Kilbreth added that he believes the elected mayor’s powers, for example board and commission appointments, and directly overseeing the city manager while setting the meeting agendas for issues like redeveloping downtown or allocating the Chevron settlement, will draw progressives to vote for Jimenez.

“With the settlement agreement, it gives us the bandwidth and the budget that allow us to upgrade our planning department, hire some consultants, you know, put out some (requests for proposals) and kind of get going,” Kilbreth said. “Nobody thinks that’s in Eduardo’s wheelhouse. He doesn’t have the management skills, he doesn’t have the educational foundation. Whereas Claudia has all that stuff. She’s both got community communication and community-organizing skills.”

Martinez rejected the claim that he is not a strong candidate, pointing to the many successes he had alongside Jimenez during his first term, such as the Point Molate sale and the Chevron settlement.

“At this moment, it is the fact that I’m the incumbent and all the work that I’ve done and successes I’ve had as mayor,” Martinez said. “I think my track record speaks well of me and I think it makes me a very strong candidate.”

When asked whether the LinkedIn controversy was the catalyst for his loss of RPA support, Martinez said he didn’t want to speak for other RPA members but said he feels that Richmond residents are “educated and progressive enough” to understand his position on Israel and Palestine had nothing to do with his local policies.

Martinez said, although he doesn’t have the group’s endorsement, he is applying for endorsements from the United Teachers of Richmond (UTR), SEIU 1021 and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 21 unions.

“Even though leadership of these organizations may have already decided one way or another, the decision is actually with the rank and file (members),” Martinez added.

What do other candidates think of mayoral ballot?

Richmond’s moderate mayoral candidates see the dueling RPA candidacies as a sign of possible fracturing and splitting of the progressive vote. They agree that it could shape up to be pivotal.

Johnson, who was on the  council from 2018 to 2022, said that he believes the race will influence the next 25 years in Richmond.

“For me it’s always been about, what does Richmond look like in 2050?” Johnson said, while declining to comment on the ballot including two RPA candidates. “This election and term as mayor will definitely set us up on that trajectory. We will either hit the mark or miss it based on who is in office. It’s a mission-critical moment right now for the city.”

Anderson, who ran two unsuccessful bids against Gayle McLaughlin and Sue Wilson in his home district of District 5, in 2020 and 2024, questioned the timing of the RPA’s endorsement of Jimenez.

“It’s clear that folks agree that there needs to be a change in leadership. Folks have labeled themselves, in your paper and others, as the RPA,” Anderson said. “When you see that the RPA has split, that tells a story. It tells a story that leadership is not only necessary, but it’s a requirement for us to move forward. Move forward from a community that seems and has been in many ways, been divided, but they are united in that everyone is talking about public safety, community well-being, economic development and quality jobs.”

Wassberg, a perennial candidate for city council races and the mayoral seat, said he thinks the dueling RPA mayoral candidates may improve his odds of winning.

Wassberg is a frequent attendee at council meetings and often sports a red ‘Make America Great Again” hat while he speaks during public comment. In the aftermath of the first attempt to censure Martinez in January, he was escorted out of the meeting after confronting  pro-Palestine speakers.

“Well you have the RPA splitting their vote and Anderson and Demnlus splitting the rest,” Wassberg told Richmondside. “The RPA is in disarray. They don’t know who to vote for.”

One topic Anderson, Johnson, Wassberg and other non-RPA candidates, such as District 3 city council candidate Brandon Evans and District 4 candidate Jamin Pursell, have focused on is public safety. Anderson, Pursell and Evans have been seen advertised in a slate, including District 2 council member Cesar Zepeda, who will run unopposed, called the “New Team Richmond” — seemingly a riff on past RPA slates with the same name.

Early Thursday morning, Anderson told Richmondside that he has not joined any slate and that he had not discussed joining one with any of the candidates advertised on the image that was floating around social media.

According to sources, the slate was created and shared by Andrew Butt, son of the former mayor.

Richmondside also spoke with Zepeda and Evans Thursday morning, both of whom said that they were not aware of the slate but recognized that, because candidates are public figures, residents have the First Amendment right to use the images of public figures, like the one shared.

While progressive candidates have championed a more holistic approach to public safety, for example establishing the Office of Neighborhood Safety and the Reach Out with Compassion and Kindness (ROCK) crisis response team, the more moderate candidates have campaigned on supporting the police department, hiring more officers and reviving  the department’s nationally celebrated “community policing model.”

“Although we can celebrate the fact that we’re down in homicides in the city, we are up in other categories,” Anderson told Richmondside.

Pursell, a former RPA member who along with Keycha Gallon is running against Soheila Bana for her District 4 council seat, publicly split from the group and has been vocally critical of how the group handles small differences among progressives on topics like public safety.

He issued a statement last week saying that the RPA is “holding Richmond back,” specifically mentioning public safety and what he believes are “ideological purity tests” that have led to political battles instead of a collaborative dispute-resolution process.

At Pursell’s campaign launch event in November 2025, Gabe Quinto, El Cerrito’s mayor and president of the League of California Cities, heavily criticized the RPA-affiliated council members for their lack of collaboration with the other west Contra Costa County cities.

Quinto lauded Pursell for splitting with the group.

“That is a medal,” Quinto said at the event. “As the president of the League of California Cities, it is very frustrating when this district in west county gets nothing done because our largest city is playing politics 24 hours a day. One of the things I want to make sure of is that we all work together collaboratively and we haven’t had that in quite a while in Richmond. You look at what happens regionally with the five districts in Contra Costa County, we get the crumbs because our largest city is not with us.”

Anderson said he believes Richmond needs a mayor who can work with other cities to get issues such as affordable housing and homelessness resolved.

“It requires a regional focus with highlighting the value and importance of decisions made. 
Not only with Richmond, but having a partnership with our local assembly (of cities), a state Assembly, and a state Senate. I don’t know that there are folks presently on there who have that relationship,” Anderson said.

Pursell said he still identifies as a progressive but believes that the movement must focus on collaboration on “working class” issues instead of hard-line opposition on slight differences.

“We lose focus because we’re being reactionary, which I think, and I think that’s the issue that we keep butting against,” Pursell said. “We (progressives) have the breadth of political knowledge and background to be able to see the larger trends. Like these big, very current events seem very pressing, and they are, but they’re not something we can directly affect in the same way that we can when we direct how we do our policy here on a local level. We do that by making sure that we’re looking at new ways to be able to resolve long-standing issues.”

When Anderson and Johnson were asked by Richmondside if the RPA’s decision to endorse Jimenez would influence their campaign approach, both downplayed its impact.

“I don’t know if it changes the strategy,” Anderson said. “The focus has always been for me is one Richmond, whether I was running in the district or now for mayor. I need to be able to not just speak for a district but the masses.”

“Well, I try to not speak to other people and other organizations but I will say that after all these years sometimes the dog catches the car and they don’t know what to do and turn on each other,” Johnson said. “Sometimes you spend so much time fighting against something that you actually become that. I just hope and pray that we’re able to have a civilized election period where we’re able to exchange and present our ideas and not divulge into mudslinging or name calling.”

While Butt believes that the moment is right for non-RPA candidates, he also said it is hard to predict voter behavior in Richmond.

“Since I’ve been in Richmond politics for decades, people have always asked ‘Well what do you think about this? What do you think about that?’ And the first thing I tell them is I’ve never understood Richmond politics,” Butt said. “Even though I’ve been right in the middle of it, I never really understood what drives people and why they vote the way they vote. I don’t understand it and I’ve never been able to predict it.

Correction: A previous version of this story that mentioned a slate of candidates involving Anderson, Pursell, Evans and Zepeda has been changed to include clarification from Anderson, Evans and Zepeda that they were not aware of the image prior to publication, have not joined any slate together and that the image posted on social media was not an official one. The image was created by resident Andrew Butt who shared it around social media.