Richmond City Council Election: Here’s who’s running

This story was updated Aug. 15 to reflect that no new candidates came forward by the Aug. 14 District 5 filing deadline.

With the 2024 Election season approaching, two Richmond City Council members are hoping to keep their seats while a newcomer will be representing District 5.

Richmond City Council candidates

District 1 (Iron Triangle, Belding Woods)

There are three candidates running for District 1: Jamelia Brown and Mark Wassberg are challenging incumbent Melvin Willis. 

Brown is a lifelong resident of District 1 and a counselor, educator and community organizer, according to her campaign website. She has not reported receiving any financial contributions, according to her Form 460, which candidates must file if they have received or spent $2,000 on their campaign, according to the Fair Political Practices Commission. Candidates who have not spent that much are exempt.

She has worked as an educator for the West Contra Costa Unified School District, including teaching at Lovonya DeJean Middle School and Kennedy High School.

Wassberg, a regular attendee at Richmond City Council meetings, will also be on the ballot. He’s known for verbally sparring with council members who belong to the Richmond Progressive Alliance. He does not have a campaign website.

He ran for the mayoral seat in 2022 where he placed last behind current Mayor Eduardo Martinez, Shawn Dunning and former Mayor Nat Bates. In an interview with the Richmond Confidential before that election, Wassberg described the RPA as a “Democrat social communist party” and said his platform was centered around public safety.

Willis, who has represented the district since 2016, previously worked as a housing advocate and community organizer in Richmond during the early 2010s with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), according to his campaign website. So far he’s raised $16,325 in contributions with individual donors who have given the maximum of $2,500 each listed as Sacramento resident Rebecca Vasquez and Richmond residents Marilyn Langlois and Kathleen Wimer.

District 5 candidate Sue Wilson also contributed to Willis’ campaign, donating $1,450.50.

District 6 (North & East)

In District 6 Shawn Dunning is challenging North & East incumbent Claudia Jimenez.

Jimenez was elected in 2020 and currently serves as vice mayor. According to her campaign website, she is originally from Colombia where she worked as a licensed architect for affordable housing projects.

Of the $42,907 Jimenez has raised so far, $34,407 came from individuals while $8,500 was donated by local and state labor unions.

The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 188, contributed $2,500, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021, gave $2,500, and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 21 contributed $2,500. A political action committee representing Interns and Resident Physicians of the SEIU also donated $1,000.

Dunning enters the District 6 race two years after losing a bid for the mayoral seat to Eduardo Martinez. He works as an independent consultant in organizational development and conflict resolution and has worked as an educator in that field, most recently developing curriculum for the School of Medicine at UC San Diego, according to his campaign website.

He has raised $25,513 for his campaign, according to campaign finance records, with two maximum contributions of $2,500 coming from local trade unions — the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) and Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Union 342.

In addition, Dunning received a contribution of $2,000 from PG&E and two $1,000 donations from the 23rd Street Merchants, the merchant organization’s President Gonzalo Ochoa’s business G&O Tires and its Vice President Rigoberto Mendoza’s business Rigo’s Auto Sales.

District 5 (Richmond Annex, Marina Bay, Eastshore, Cortez/Stege, Panhandle Annex, Parkview, Laurel Park, Southwest Annex)

Ahmad Anderson and Sue Wilson are competing in the District 5 race for the seat being vacated by longtime city political figure and Richmond Progressive Alliance stalwart Gayle McLaughlin, who announced on June 5 that she would not seek reelection.

Anderson has deep roots in Richmond. He’s the son of two former Richmond mayors. His father Booker T. Anderson served as mayor from 1973 to 1974, and his mother Irma Anderson served as mayor from 2001 to 2006.

According to his campaign website, Anderson previously worked in various human resources positions, including a stint as Goodwill’s vice president of human resources from 2010 to 2013. He most recently served as the chair of Richmond’s Economic Development Commission in 2023.

So far, Anderson has reported his own $5,000 contribution to his campaign.

Wilson, who McLaughlin endorsed when she announced she’s not running, came to Richmond in 2008, and in 2013 she got involved with the Richmond Progressive Alliance after hearing of McLaughlin’s plan to assist homeowners who owed more on their homes than the properties were worth, following the risky lending practices that led to the housing market crash.

According to her campaign website, Wilson said that if she is elected she will focus on expanding affordable housing while protecting existing renters and push to use city resources to create union jobs in “clean industries.” 

So far Wilson has raised $8,360, with $2,000 of that coming from her husband, Daniel Lawson.

Correction: A previous version of this story included that District 6 Council Member Claudia Jimenez was still listed as “not qualified” on the Contra Costa County candidate list which has been updated to reflect Jimenez’ qualification for the race after the county’s last update.