EAST CONTRA COSTA — Antioch Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe will face two opponents in his re-election bid, Brentwood will pick a new mayor and multiple council seats are up for grabs this November.
The Nov. 5 election in East Contra Costa is now cemented, after key filing deadlines over the past week.
Hernandez-Thorpe, a first-term mayor, will campaign against retired city manager Rowland “Ron” Bernal Jr. and Rakesh Kumar Christian, who finished last of five candidates in the 2020 mayoral race.
Hernandez-Thorpe said he’s “excited to be the only Democrat” in the race and looks forward to having healthy debates with his Republican opponents.
“I am focusing on not going back to the Republican ways, and continue to push and build on the democratic ideas that made a difference in people’s lives. It has worked so far,” Hernandez-Thorpe said in an interview. “Under the previous predecessor, crime rates were high. I don’t want to go back to the Republican ideas that didn’t work.”
Brentwood Mayor Joel Bryant is not seeking re-election but Vice Mayor Susannah Meyer is giving up her council seat to try and fill his shoes. Bryant did not return a message seeking comment but Meyer said they had “talked about it a couple of months ago, and he was thinking of not running. I believe it’s something personal.”
In Antioch, this fall’s election could significantly reshape the political landscape of the five-person council. Two councilmembers who often found themselves at odds with the board’s majority are not running — for different reasons.
The City Council’s redrawing of district boundaries in 2022, which comes every 10 years with new census data, moved Councilmember Lori Ogorchock out of District 3. She and Councilman Mike Barbanica were on the losing end of the new maps approved by Mayor Hernandez-Thorpe and councilmembers Tamisha Torres-Walker and Monica Wilson.
“It’s not that I wasn’t seeking reelection (for District 3). It was taken away from me. The councilmembers gerrymandered me out of the district,” Ogorchock said this week.
She considered running for mayor against Hernandez-Thorpe but instead has entered to run for the city’s elected treasurer seat, along with former Antioch Mayor James D. Davis and Jorge R. Rojas Jr.
“I want to stay in the political realm and ensure the money is financially (safe and) sound,” she said in an interview.
Running for the District 3 council seat are former Antioch Mayor Donald P. Freitas; Antwon R. Webster, who served in the U.S. Air Force and currently serves as a member on Antioch’s Board of Administrative Appeals and community activist and Addison Peterson, who holds a master’s in public administration currently works as a senior policy manager with the California Certified Organic Farmers.
In a social media post last month, Freitas said the direction of Antioch under “Thorpe and some members of the present Council for the last several years has been an unmitigated disaster.” Referring to the Contra Costa County Civil Grand Jury report on “Challenges Facing the City Of Antioch”, Freitas said new leadership and change is needed.
The report highlighted high turnover in city leadership, possible but ultimately inconclusive violations of the Brown Act by Hernandez-Thorpe, Mayor Pro Tem Monica Wilson and Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker in 2022 and the racist text messages scandal involving several Antioch police officers.
“We need new leadership that is concerned about the betterment of our residents instead of the political ambitions of a few elected officials that have effectively damaged our community,” Freitas wrote.
Barbanica, who has been an ally of Ogorchock’s on council, isn’t running for re-election because he’s facing off with Pittsburg Councilmember Shanelle Scales-Preston to replace Federal Glover on the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors.
Dominique King and Louie Rocha are campaigning to replace Barbanica in Antioch’s District 2.
Melissa Rhodes is the lone candidate running for the Antioch City Clerk position currently held by Ellie Householder.
In Brentwood, Vice Mayor Meyer, Planning Commissioner Gerald Johnson and Steve Kersevan have thrown their hats into the mayor’s race. Kersevan has also filed to run in District 3, but as of Wednesday afternoon, he had not qualified for the ballot for both the positions.
Others who filed and qualified to run for District 3 include Councilmember Jovita Mendoza and Brian Oftedal.
Brentwood Planning Commission Chair Anita Roberts and Faye Maloney will face off for Brentwood’s District 1 council seat.
In Pittsburg, three people have filed for the two open seats on the City Council. Mayor Juan Antonia Banales, Vice Mayor Jelani Killings, and Iztaccuauhtli Hector Gonzalez have filed and qualified for November’s ballot.
In Oakley, Councilmember George Fuller, Oakley Planning Commission chairperson Oleksii Chuiko, and Cristina Penal Langley have qualified for the District 5 race. Mayor Anissa Williams qualified for District 3, while Councilmember Aaron Meadows will run for District 1 in November’s ballot.
