A judge has rejected Riverside City Council Ward 2 candidate Gracie Torres’ challenge to the ballot designation submitted by competitor Aram Ayra, ruling it could remain on the ballot for the June 2 election.
“They were essentially attempting to strike my entire designation, which could have ended up with me just ending up on the ballot with basically nothing underneath my name,” Ayra said in an interview with The Riverside Record. “If you’re a lower turnout voter, or someone that doesn’t vote frequently, that could be the decision between voting for someone or not.”
Torres submitted the petition March 20 challenging Ayra’s submitted designation of “Educator/City Commissioner,” alleging that he broke California Election Code by not accurately reflecting his primary occupation.
She argued that Ayra’s description as an educator was a “creative attempt” to convince voters he was a K-12 teacher or professor, despite being neither. She cited his LinkedIn page’s recent occupations, showing his work as both an associate director of a youth mentoring nonprofit and a Federal Emergency Management Agency coordinator in recent years, which she believed did not qualify as being an educator. Instead, she argued in the filing that his role should have been “nonprofit director.”
“I have made my entire background public, including my work as a former chemistry adjunct professor at California State University San Bernardino,” Torres said in a statement after the verdict. “I believe voters should have a clear, complete picture of who they are electing, and I hold myself to that standard every day.”
Ayra told The Record that he’s earned a master’s degree in education from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) and has previously taught at UCR’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Palm Desert, with two more classes scheduled for this spring. He said he’s also qualified for ballots as an educator in the past, as he’s had several teaching roles across the Inland Empire over the years.
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Torres, in the filing, said that Ayra’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute classes provided a “social outlet for seniors more than it provides anyone with an education” and that the time commitment from his recent winter course was not a “substantial amount of time and effort necessary” to justify his ballot designation.
She also challenged his city commissioner description, arguing that he was appointed to Riverside’s Budget Engagement Commission last year and, by her estimate, had only devoted about 10 hours over the course of that time to attending the meetings, which she said could not be considered a primary vocation.
“We followed the process as directed and brought this forward because voters had legitimate questions about accuracy,” Torres said in a statement. “While the court has made its decision, I believe it warrants further inquiry.”
A week after the legal challenge was submitted, Ayra’s attorney submitted a response, primarily arguing that Torres’ view of a broad term like “educator” was too narrow in its focus and that much of his work as both an educator and commissioner was done behind-the-scenes.
Ayra also said in the response that he was “in the process of scaling back” his duties as a nonprofit director and that his upcoming classes would serve as his primary source of income “for the foreseeable future.” The court on Monday ultimately rejected Torres’ petition, allowing Ayra’s description to remain as initially submitted.
Torres and Ayra qualified last month as candidates for the June 2 primary election and are running for the Ward 2 seat alongside entrepreneur Christen Montero and local business owner Mike Vahl.
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