RICHMOND — Some Richmond residents say they saw an ad about Claudia Jimenez during a 49ers game. The candidate herself did not pay for it.
On the eve of Tuesday’s election, the race for Richmond mayor has become a contest between two candidates and the committees spending around them. And the biggest of those committees is backed by the city’s police union.
Voters will choose Tuesday between Jimenez, a sitting City Council member, and Ahmad Anderson, a former human resources professional and UC Berkeley football alumnus. Whoever wins replaces Mayor Eduardo Martinez, who finished outside the top two in June and leaves office in January.
How they got here
June 2 was Richmond’s first mayoral primary. Jimenez, a member of the Richmond Progressive Alliance, finished first with 38.6%. Anderson, who calls himself a moderate and had twice run unsuccessfully for council, finished second with 28%. No one cleared 50%, so the top two advanced.
“I’m not running against Eduardo. I’m running for the seat,” Anderson told Richmondside after the primary.
“People are giving me the confidence to be leading the city and continue to move Richmond forward,” Jimenez said.
The money is outside the campaigns
The candidates have raised similar amounts this year: just under $127,000 for Jimenez and almost $119,000 for Anderson, according to filings reported by Richmondside.
Safe Richmond Neighborhoods Supporting Ahmad Anderson, a committee sponsored by the Richmond Police Officers Association, has raised more than $341,000 in 2026. That is more than both candidates combined.
In the most recent filing period alone, the committee spent about $206,000. About $155,000 went to promoting Anderson through TV and digital ads, mailers and door hangers. About $51,000 went to opposing Jimenez, all of it in this final stretch.
Most of its new money this period came from building trades unions: $25,000 from Steamfitters Local 342 of Concord and $5,000 from Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 159 of Martinez. Another $1,500 came from Garry’s List Action, a committee launched this year by Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, who spent more than $50,000 backing the 2022 recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
Jimenez has outside help too. East Bay Working Families has spent just under $220,000 this cycle, much of it on canvassing by ACCE Action and APEN Action, plus mailers and digital ads. Most of its money has come from SEIU Local 1021’s candidate PAC. Its recent ads highlight Jimenez’s role in the city’s $550 million Chevron settlement and her support for a data center moratorium. They do not attack Anderson by name.
A disputed vote on ethics
The sharpest attack in the race is a police-union-backed mailer that calls Jimenez the “deciding vote” when the council declined to create an ethics commission earlier this year.
The vote was 4-3. Jimenez answered online that Martinez, Vice Mayor Doria Robinson and Councilmember Sue Wilson also voted no. “The vote was 4-to-3, and four of us voted ‘no,’” she wrote. She argued the roughly $1 million a year the commission would have cost was better spent on fire stations, parks and roads.
The mailer also mentions a proposed police union ballot measure that would require a minimum police staffing budget. Richmondside reported that it did not include comment from Anderson’s campaign or the committee.
What else is on Richmond’s ballot
- Measure Q would raise $120 million to repair or replace outdated fire stations, with a temporary property tax increase.
- Measure V would renew a nine-year WCCUSD parcel tax that raises about $10 million a year. Seniors and disabled residents are exempt.
- Measure RTM is a countywide transit tax.
Richmond has never had a mayoral runoff. The ads will stop Tuesday night. The person who wins will answer to the voters, not the committees.
How to vote: Early in-person voting is open today, Monday, Nov. 2, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., at Richmond Memorial Auditorium, 403 Civic Center Plaza. On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Ballot drop boxes in Richmond include City Hall, 450 Civic Center Plaza; 1305 Macdonald Ave.; North Richmond Center for Health, 1501 Fred Jackson Way; and 2910 Hilltop Drive. Mailed ballots must be postmarked by Election Day. Same-day registration is available. Check your status at voterstatus.sos.ca.gov.
Photo: Richmond City Hall. Wikigirl97 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. This report draws on Richmondside and Bay City News.
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