About a month after results for the June 2 primary election were certified, all 10 Riverside City Council candidates submitted their mid-year financial reports.
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Of the remaining Riverside City Council Ward 2 and 4 candidates who have moved on to the November 3 general election, records showed two candidates have outraised and outspent their competition by wide margins.
The other six candidates, including those for Ward 6 where one candidate surpassed the 50% threshold required to win the seat outright, also saw large swings in campaign contributions and spending.
The Riverside Record compiled each candidate’s filings to show just how much it costs to run for office in the city.
Ward 2
Since throwing her hat into the ring, Ward 2 candidate Gracie Torres has received nearly $162,957 in campaign contributions, the most of any candidate running for Riverside City Council in this year’s election cycle.
Last year, Torres raised roughly $45,000, but contributions to her campaign have grown steadily over the past six months. Between January 1 and May 16, she raised just shy of $100,000. By June 30, that had grown to $117,414, according to her latest campaign filings, bringing her total to nearly $163,000.
“Raising money is done over coffees, phone calls and conversations about our vision and ability to deliver results,” Torres said in an email to The Record. “We will remain focused on grassroots support from Ward 2 residents and community stakeholders who believe in this campaign’s ideas.”
Her largest contributions between May 17 and June 30 included $5,900 from labor union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 721 and $10,000 from local business owner Eugene S. Park.
Torres said these funds have helped her offset the cost of the campaign, since she cannot afford to use her own money for the race as a mother of three who works full-time.
“Constituents should see those numbers as a reflection of the broad support we have earned and the strength of the coalition behind this campaign,” she said. “Many of the organizations and individuals supporting me looked at all of the candidates in this race, evaluated our records, our priorities, and our vision for Riverside and ultimately chose to invest in our campaign because they know that I have a track record of delivering results.”
Her campaign has spent about $159,000, according to campaign filings, which includes unpaid bills and nonmonetary adjustments. According to filings, her campaign committee had approximately $15,000 cash on hand as of June 30.
More recently — and not included in her mid-year filing, since it was received after the deadline — she received $10,000 from the Riverside Firefighters Legislative Action Group and $2,500 from a political action committee (PAC) affiliated with a West Coast-based carpenters union.
That money, she added, is set to be used to help her team meet face-to-face with constituents in the coming months.
Ward 2 candidate Aram Ayra has received less than half of what Torres has raised, reporting just shy of $81,000 in contributions as of June 30.
“We were outraised nearly 2.5 to 1 in one of the most expensive city council primaries Riverside has seen,” Ayra said in an email to The Record. “I think people took notice when a grassroots campaign went up against a $150,000 [plus] dollar war chest and finished less than 200 votes apart.”
Between May 17 and June 30, Ayra’s campaign received a little more than $5,000 in individual contributions, as well as a $10,000 loan and $13,664 in mailers Ayra paid for out of his own pocket. He also previously received $750 from the United Domestic Workers of America Action Fund and $2,000 from the SEIU Local 121RN Health Care Fund
Last week, Ayra also received a $1,000 contribution from local resident Dwight Tate.
According to campaign finance reports, Ayra’s campaign has spent a little more than $85,000 this year, which includes both unpaid expenses and campaign expenditures he’s paid for himself. As of June 30, his campaign had roughly $2,500 remaining.
Ayra said he plans to reach out to voters directly in the coming months through mailers and in-person home visits, while also using his social media platform to share his views on the issues most important to his constituents.
“Because we keep our overhead low and don’t spend heavily on consultants, more of every dollar can go toward actual voter outreach,” he said. “We ran a disciplined, cost-conscious campaign through the primary, and we’ll continue doing that through November.”
Ward 2 Candidate Mike Vahl, who failed to qualify for the runoff, received $20,152 in contributions, a majority of which came from individual donors and out of his own pocket, according to campaign filings.
In a phone call with The Record, he said both Ayra and Torres benefited from union dollars, which allowed them to pay for increased advertising and improve their reach.
“[Campaign contributions] should be limited, that’s ridiculous,” Vahl said. “There’s only a couple of cities in the state that have unlimited [campaign contributions], and we’re one of them.”
Ward 2 Candidate Christen Montero, who also failed to qualify for the runoff, funded her bid for a council with small donations from individual donors, while also accruing thousands of dollars in expenses. In total, she received $9,945 and spent $20,621, according to campaign filings.
Montero declined to comment.
Ward 4
Councilmember Chuck Conder, who is running for reelection to his Ward 4 seat, has received a little over $154,000 in contributions this election cycle, according to campaign filings.
Conder did not immediately respond to The Record’s request for comment.
His mid-year finance filing showed he received $20,050 between May 17 and June 30. His two largest contributors were the Riverside Firefighters Legislative Action Group and local business owner Gordon Bourns, which combined pushed his contributions for this calendar year over six figures.
His filings show he has spent nearly $154,000 and had a roughly $3,105 cash balance as of June 30.
Ward 4 candidate Rich Vandenberg raised $21,549 this election cycle, about seven times less than what Conder has brought in.
Vandenberg previously told The Record that he has focused his efforts on door knocking to raise awareness of his platform. His biggest campaign expenses, according to campaign filings, were for the services of a local printing company and political consultants.
“I’ve personally knocked on more than 12,000 doors, because I believe elections should be earned by listening to the people you want to represent,” Vandenberg said in an email to The Record. “He may outspend me. I intend to outwork him.”
Vandenberg said he didn’t want to publicly share his campaign plan for the coming months, but said he would continue knocking on doors, attending community events and listening to his constituents.
“What matters is where that money comes from and whose interests are being represented in city hall,” he said. “My opponent has received significant support from developers and other special interests, while his record includes supporting warehouse development that many Ward 4 residents have opposed.”
Ward 4 Candidate Jessica Qattawi, who failed to qualify for the runoff, received contributions of $5,073, according to campaign filings. According to her filings, she spent $1,913, with a majority of that going to campaign paraphernalia.
Qattawi did not immediately respond to The Record’s request for comment.
Ward 6
Ward 6 Councilmember Luis Hernandez, who cleared the 50% threshold to win the election outright, received $20,637 for his campaign, according to his filings.
Hernandez did not immediately respond to The Record’s request for comment.
Individual contributions made up the bulk of his support, filings showed, but he also received a combined $5,000 from State Sen. Sabrina Cervantes and Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes, along with $3,000 from the SEIU Local 121RN Health Care Fund.
Late last month, the Riverside Firefighters Legislative Action Group also contributed $10,000 to Hernandez’s campaign.
Similarly, candidate Norma Berrellez, raised $17,976 through a mix of individual contributions and a few large donations from Riverside’s police union and Riverside County’s sheriff union PACs, according to her filings.
Berrellez did not immediately respond to The Record’s request for comment.
However, candidate Oz Puerta received roughly triple the financial contributions compared to both Hernandez and Berrellez, raising about $56,297 for his campaign.
Most of his contributions came from a mix of local PACs, business owners and residents. He also loaned his campaign $15,000.
In a phone call with The Record, Puerta said that Hernandez outcanvassed him. While the increased finances provided more opportunities to share his message, he added, the other campaigns showed that it ultimately can’t win elections.
“In Ward 2, [with] the two candidates remaining, one vastly outraised the other one, and then in Ward 4 they couldn’t get to 50% and they raised over $100,000,” Puerta said. “At the end of the day, it’s whoever hits the most doors.”
In total, the 10 candidates vying for the three available Riverside City Council seats, have raised a combined total of $549,607 and have spent a total of $554,733 as of June 30.
Over the coming months, candidates who made it past the primary will continue to fundraise for their races in hopes of coming out on top in the November 3, 2026, election.
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