As Richmond voters prepare to elect a new mayor Nov. 3, Ahmad Anderson’s supporters are outspending his opponent to get him elected.
Anderson and Claudia Jimenez, and the PACs backing them, filed their latest campaign finance reports on Thursday, the last deadline before the election. Candidates and the independent committees supporting them can still raise money until Election Day but are required to file a report within 24 hours of a contribution of $1,000 or more.
In this recent filing period, Anderson raised more, collecting about $19,600 to Jimenez’s $15,500. However, Anderson spent more, nearly $51,000, ending the period with about -$1,200. Jimenez spent just under $41,000 and finished the period with about $29,200.
But in total this year, Jimenez has out raised Anderson, raising just less than $127,000 to Anderson’s almost $119,000.
Anderson’s biggest contributions this period came from trades unions and real estate PACs. According to Anderson’s filing, the Steamfitters & Refrigeration UA Local 250 PAC donated $2,500, and the Laborers International Union and East Bay Jobs PACs gave $1,000 each. The Los Angeles-based California Real Estate PAC, the political arm of the California Association of Realtors, also donated $2,500 to Anderson’s campaign.
Jimenez’s top committee contributors this period came from the Progressive Era PAC and the California Nurses Association PAC, which gave $2,500 each. SEIU United Healthcare Workers West PAC also donated $1,000.
Both candidates also received a number of large donations from local residents. Retired El Sobrante resident McKinley Williams gave $1,000 to Anderson’s campaign while Berkeley software engineer Douglas Woos gave $2,500 to Jimenez’s campaign.
RPOA-backed committee raises more than $340K for 2026 mayoral race
The committee sponsored by the Richmond Police Officers Association (RPOA), called Safe Richmond Neighborhoods Supporting Ahmad Anderson, spent about $206,000 during the last month in support of Anderson and to oppose Jimenez since the last filing in September. In total, the committee has raised more than $341,000 this year for the mayoral election.
The Safe Richmond Neighborhoods PAC has sent out a number of direct mailers opposing Jimenez in recent weeks and has sent out canvassers to knock doors. One of the ads calls out Jimenez for casting what it says was the “deciding vote” when the council opted to not establish an ethics commission earlier this year. The mailer also mentions a proposed ballot measure that the RPOA wants to put before voters that would require the city to allocate part of its budget for a minimum number of police officers.
Jimenez posted an online response to the mailer on Friday, pushing back on claims that she was the deciding vote in the ethics matter, pointing out that three other city council members, outgoing Mayor Eduardo Martinez, Vice Mayor Doria Robinson and Sue Wilson, also voted “no.”
“The vote was 4-to-3, and four of us voted ‘no.’ You could pin the ‘deciding vote’ on any of the four. The mailer picked me because I’m running for mayor,” Jimenez wrote on her website. “Here’s why I voted no. A million dollars a year is real money in a city with real needs … I said at the meeting that I’d rather put that money into fire stations, parks and roads, which is what residents ask me for. I still feel that way.”
Of the $206,000 the Safe Richmond Neighborhoods committee has spent during the filing period, $155,000 was spent supporting Anderson via TV and digital ads, mailers and door hanging literature while just over $51,000 was spent to oppose Jimenez, including $15,000 on TV ads on Oct. 13. All of the spending to oppose Jimenez’s candidacy by the RPOA-backed committee has come in this latest filing period.
Residents on social media platforms like Nextdoor and Facebook have reported seeing an increase in the number of ads and mailers specifically mentioning Jimenez during prime viewership times, including during a recent San Francisco 49er game. The TV ad also misspelled Jimenez’s last name.
Most of the $31,500 in contributions to the PAC during this recent period came from two building-trades unions on Oct. 16: $25,000 from the Steamfitters Local 342 of Concord and $5,000 from the Plumbers & Steamfitters UA Local 159 of Martinez.
The remaining $1,500 came on Oct. 15 from Garry’s List Action, a political committee launched by Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, of San Francisco. Tan, a tech investor whose net worth according to Forbes is about $300 million, launched the PAC earlier this year as a statewide group backing moderate candidates. Tan has previously spent big in San Francisco elections, including shelling out more than $50,000 to support the 2022 recall of then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
According to PAC campaign finance reports, Safe Richmond Neighborhoods for Ahmad Anderson ordered a new batch of ads totaling about $68,500 on Oct. 17, spending evenly on ads supporting Anderson and ads mentioning Jimenez.
So far, Jimenez’s main PAC support has come from East Bay Working Families, a coalition of local public employee unions and community groups. During the most recent period, East Bay Working Families spent just over $43,000 supporting Jimenez with canvassing by ACCE Action and APEN Action, mailers and digital ads. So far this year, the PAC has spent just under $220,000 in supporting Jimenez this cycle.
East Bay Working Families has also recently released a number of ads in support of Jimenez none of which specifically criticize Anderson and tout her achievements as standing up to “big oil” in negotiating the $550 million Chevron settlement and backing the council’s recent moratorium on data centers.
The PAC also raised about $85,000 this period, all of which came from SEIU Local 1021 candidate PAC. The union’s PAC during this mayoral election cycle has contributed about $165,000 of the $200,000 raised this year.
Correction: A previous version of this story stated that East Bay Working Families PAC spent around $137,000 has been corrected to reflect the PAC has spent just under $220,000.
