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# Riverside Voters Decide Ward 2 and 4 Council Runoffs, Two School Board Seats Today
- URL: https://www.raincrossgazette.com/riverside-voters-decide-ward-2-and-4-council-runoffs-two-school-board-seats-today/
- Published: 2026-11-03T13:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T13:00:01.000Z
- Description: Four local contests will shape the City Council and two school boards. Early returns arrive tonight, but final results will take weeks.
- Author: Justin Pardee
- Tags: Politics, #herald-40cef165-d2ee-8113-8000-f209dd31edd6, 2026 Election

Riverside voters cast their final ballots today in four local contests: City Council runoffs in Wards 2 and 4, and school board races in Riverside Unified's Trustee Area 1 and Alvord Unified's Trustee Area 4.

In Ward 2, which includes the Eastside, Canyon Crest, Sycamore Canyon and University District neighborhoods, Gracie Torres and Aram Ayra are competing for an open seat. Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes holds it today and is not on the ballot. Torres, a Western Municipal Water District board member, finished first in the four-candidate June 2 primary with 37.99% of the vote. Ayra, a city Budget Engagement commissioner and president of the Riverside Neighborhood Partnership, was second with 35.72%. June's 2.27-point margin is the closest Ward 2 result in Gazette election records dating to 1997\. Ayra also ran in 2021, finishing third with 13% as Cervantes won the seat outright with 52.06%.

In Ward 4, which includes Alessandro Heights, Mission Grove, Orangecrest and the Greenbelt, Councilmember Chuck Conder is seeking another term against Rich Vandenberg, vice chair of the Budget Engagement Commission. Conder received 45.63% in June and Vandenberg 28.34%, with Jessica Qattawi third. Conder won the seat in 2017, defeating incumbent Paul Davis with 54.15%, and was reelected in 2021 with 56.41%. The last Ward 4 runoff in Gazette records was in January 2006.

The winners will join a council facing decisions residents have followed all year. A judge ordered the city to refund $40.8 million in water transfer revenue, and the city said it planned to appeal. The fire department's master plan calls for 84 more firefighters and two new stations, including one in Ward 4, and voters rejected the Measure Z sales tax proposal in June. The city is also in mediation with the California Civil Rights Department over the council's January rejection of University Terrace, which would have converted the Quality Inn on University Avenue into 114 apartments.

All four council candidates took questions on homelessness, housing costs, warehouses, data centers and campaign money at a [September forum hosted by Temple Beth El](https://www.raincrossgazette.com/ward-2-and-4-candidates-clash-over-housing-campaign-money-and-riversides-future/).

Ayra and Vandenberg also answered the Gazette's [written questionnaires](https://www.raincrossgazette.com/ward-2-and-4-candidates-outline-plans-for-housing-and-homelessness/) on housing, accountability and city finances. Torres and Conder did not respond.

On the school boards, Riverside Unified board President Noemi Hernandez Alexander is seeking a second term in Trustee Area 1\. She faces Jinane Annous, a retired superintendent who lives in Orangecrest, and Duffy Atkinson, a retired businessman whose children graduated from RUSD schools. It is a rematch for Atkinson: Hernandez Alexander won the seat in 2022 with 37.23% of the vote in a four-candidate field, and Atkinson finished second with 28.61%. RUSD's Trustee Area 5 is not on the ballot because incumbent Brent Lee was the only qualified candidate. In Alvord Unified's Trustee Area 4, Trustee Norma O. Berrellez faces Jamie Walden, whose ballot designation is Parent. Berrellez won the seat in 2024 with 43.76% in a four-candidate field, after losing a 2018 bid for it to Robert D. Schwandt.

Vote centers across Riverside County are open until 8 p.m. today, and official ballot drop boxes close at 8 p.m. Voters can also turn in a completed mail ballot at any vote center before 8 p.m. Locations and hours are listed at voteinfo.net, and the Registrar of Voters can be reached at (951) 486-7200.

Results released tonight will be early returns. The Riverside County Registrar of Voters begins its official canvass Thursday, counties must finish counting nearly all ballots by Nov. 16, and the county has until Dec. 3 to certify results. Results for all four races will appear at the top of raincrossgazette.com and update automatically as the county releases each count.