Meet the candidates for City Council District 4 on Wednesday

When Richmond City Council District 4 voters go to the polls next month in the city’s first primary election, they will be choosing between incumbent Councilmember Soheila Bana and challengers Keycha Gallon, a pharmacy technician who runs an anti-violence organization, and Jamin Pursell, a small-business owner.

To help voters make informed decisions, Richmond Confidential is teaming up with Richmondside and The Advocate student newspaper at Contra Costa College to host the last of three candidate forums on Wednesday. The candidates will take reporters’ and voters’ questions from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the De Anza High School library, 5000 Valley View Road.

El Tímpano has been working with us to collect questions from residents. Those planning to attend the forum in person may RSVP here. You also may watch the event live on Richmond Confidential’s YouTube channel, which you will be able to access through Richmond Confidential’s home page when the forum starts.

District 4 includes Hilltop Village, Hilltop Green, Fairmede/Hilltop, Greenridge Heights, Quail Hill, May Valley, Greenbriar, Sobrante Hills, Carriage Hills North and South, and the Castro Heights neighborhoods

Richmond’s first primary election, which is on June 2, came about through a 2024 ballot measure backed by 58% of Richmond voters. Unlike in previous years, when voters had to choose among a large field of candidates for each office in the general election, this year they will make those choices early. In November, no more than two candidates for mayor and for City Council Districts 2, 3 and 4 will compete for each seat, guaranteeing no one gets elected unless they have received more than half the votes. If a candidate manages to do that in the primary election, they automatically will win, as no write-in candidates can enter only the general election.

In April, the news sites held a mayoral forum, featuring five candidates. Last week, they co-hosted a City Council District 3 forum with two candidates. No forum is scheduled for City Council District 2 because only one candidate, incumbent Cesar Zepeda, has filed to run.

UC Berkeley students are live-streaming the forums on YouTube. You can access archived forums on the Richmond Confidential YouTube channel.

The forums are free and open to the public.

(Candidate photos are courtesy of their campaigns)

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