race in the wake of the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court case, the 2014 Richmond municipal election attracted national media attention due to Chevron spending approximately $3 million to support its own slate of candidates and break progressive control of the council. Butt beat Chevron's mayoral candidate, Nat Bates, with more than 51 percent of the election and avoiding a run-off. Martinez and Beckles also for won their bids, beating out Chevon-backed candidates Donna Powers, Charles Ramsey, and Al Martinez, while ex-mayor Gayle McLaughlin also won back a seat. 2016 through 2017 In 2016, RPA members Ben Choi and Melvin Willis won seats on the Richmond City Council, joining McLaughlin, Beckles, and Martinez on the board and giving the RPA a majority on the seven-member city council. Neither Choi, an account manager with a clean-energy company, nor Willis, a community organizer, had held elected office prior to the election. In that same election, Richmond voters approved a controversial rent-control and just-cause eviction measure written and backed by the RPA. 2018 to present In 2018, Richmond's mayor, Tom Butt, endorsed Buffy Wicks, who opposed Beckles in the race for District 15's California Assembly seat. Beckles was endorsed by the California Progressive Alliance, a statewide offshoot of the Richmond Progressive Alliance co-founded by McLaughlin to elevate progressive ideas statewide. Wicks went on to beat Beckles by 12 points and win the seat. Pundits cited her win over the RPA was due, in part, to Wicks' own experience with grassroots organizing, beating Beckles at her "own game." In the same election, McLaughlin lost her race for California Lieutenant Governor. In 2019, Butt blamed the Richmond Progressive Alliance for obstructing appointments to city positions, which are done typically at the prerogative of the mayor. References External links Richmond Progressive Alliance official website Organizations based in the San Francisco Bay Area Richmond, California