05 Dec Torres-Walker Keeps Antioch Council Seat by Three-Vote Margin

(Image courtesy of city of Antioch via Bay City News)

By Tony Hicks
Bay City News Foundation

When the dust cleared Friday at the Contra Costa County Elections Office and officials certified the final election results, Tamisha Torres-Walker successfully defended her District 1 council seat.

By three votes.

Former councilperson Joy Motts initially appeared headed back to the council, where she served until Torres-Walker unseated her in 2020. Motts led in unofficial counts until last week, when Torres-Walker jumped both Motts and former planning commissioner Diane Gibson-Gray to regain the lead.

Torres-Walker finished with 1,467 votes (34.46%) to Motts’ 1,464 votes (34.29%). Gibson-Gray wasn’t too far behind, with 1,339 votes (31.36%).

Torres-Walker is seen as an ally of Mayor Lamar Thorpe. The other member of the council’s progressive voting bloc, Monica Wilson, successfully defended her seat against council colleague Lori Ogorchok, who was pitted against Wilson because of district readjustment.

During the election, Torres-Walker touted her record as executive director of the Safe Return Project, “a non-profit that works to dismantle the mass incarceration system and utilize those funds towards resourcing, rehabilitation, and prevention in the community.”

She said her council accomplishments included helping create a new city department focused on reducing gun violence, helping shut down a gas pipeline through Antioch, equipping police with body and dash cameras and establishing a police oversight board, creating a mobile mental health crisis team, and helping the city obtain more than $2 million for youth prevention and intervention and violence prevention programs.

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