It appears that voters in Richmond’s city council District 4 are happy with incumbent Soheila Bana, who won in her race against Keycha Gallon and Jamin Pursell.
Bana, a retired engineer who is seeking a second term, was first elected in 2022 and has represented a district that includes the neighborhoods of Hilltop Village, Hilltop Green, Fairmede Hilltop, Quail Hill, Greenridge Heights, May Valley, El Sobrante Hills, Greenbriar, Castro Heights and the Carriage Hills North and South.
In a phone interview on June 3, Bana said she was ‘excited’ to continue representing the district on the council while thanking those who supported her campaign.
“I would like to sincerely thank our incredible community for giving me this opportunity” Bana told Richmondside. “My supporters and voters for standing behind my agenda to make Richmond a safer place, a better place for all of us. And our campaign team and volunteers who ran a positive campaign with honesty and integrity. We won for a second time with an overwhelming margin.”
When asked what she heard from constituents while campaigning about what they want to see from their local elected officials, Bana pointed to “positive campaigning and integrity.”
“I’m glad that positive campaigning, and honestly and integrity wins,” said Bana.
The race and two others that are contested were the first being held under the city’s Measure J system, which was approved by voters in 2024. A candidate who receives more than 50% of the votes cast will win the seat outright. If no candidate meets that threshold, the top two vote-getters will move on to the November General Election. (District 2 council member Cesar Zepeda is running for reelection unopposed.)
June 2 primary election
Full election results are here.
For more info.: Visit Richmondside’s voter guide or the Contra Costa County elections page.
With all precincts counted, voter turnout countywide was at 44.8%.
Candidates primarily campaigned on public safety, the $550 million Chevron settlement and how the city could address its crumbling infrastructure. The race has been focused on how the next council member representing the district can shape those spending priorities.
In District 4, Bana has raised the most money, raking in more than $34,000 while also securing endorsements from local public employee labor unions including SEIU Local 1021, the Richmond firefighters union and the Richmond Police Officers Association (RPOA). She has campaigned on being able to collaborate with the city council’s progressive voting bloc while continuing to vote according to her values on the dais. She did not respond to Richmondside’s requests for comment on election night.
Pursell, a small business owner who lost to Bana in the 2022 District 4 race while he was a Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) member, separated from the group late last year, citing concerns with its ideological ability to reach all residents. Pursell has since found support from elected officials in neighboring cities such as El Cerrito and Pinole, where leaders have been publicly critical of the RPA, and from RPOA, which also donated to his campaign — seemingly hedging its bets on a winner.
Since his days with the RPA, Pursell has softened his tone on public safety, primarily, saying he hopes to build a bridge between the department and city council, which he described as “hostile” to police.
Richmondside stopped by the Copper Mug in El Sobrante where Jamin and a handful of his supporters were watching election results come in.
He told Richmondside he wasn’t encouraged by the results so far given that only 2,221 people in the district had voted in the race, according to early results, about half of the number that voted in the 2022 primary.
Supporter Mike Nye described Pursell as “smart, dedicated and caring,” and he trusts him to focus on quality of life issues, including, “Fixing these potholes.”
“She (Bana) talks a lot about what she’s going to do and not about what she does,” Nye said.
Gallon, a pharmacy technician, is a first-time candidate who has been critical of Bana since the two had a falling out over Gallon’s efforts to secure for her nonprofit and others affiliated with it a $50,000 gun violence reduction initiative in 2025. She has campaigned on bringing more job programs to the city to help curb the ongoing homelessness crisis and on the need for more resources for local gun violence prevention organizations.
