Former Antioch Youth of the Year pulls papers to run for school board in Area 1 to challenge Gibson-Gray
Mystery solved about first candidate to complete filing process for Mayor of Antioch
By Allen Payton
The latest report from the Contra Costa Elections office, as of Wednesday afternoon, July 22, 2020, shows Antonio Hernandez is the first candidate to take out nomination papers to run for the Antioch School Board in Area 1. He will be challenging current Board President Diane Gibson-Gray, who is expected to seek her fourth term on the board. Hernandez is only the second candidate in the three new district races for school board, as Crystal Sawyer-White pulled papers, last week to run in Area 3 for a second term on the board.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Hernandez has worked for UCSF at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center in Pediatrics, first as an Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator beginning in July 2016, then as a Quality Improvement Coordinator since May 2017.
In addition, since September 2017 Hernandez has also worked as a Leadership Specialist with TeamTRI, an organizational and leadership development company. However, their website lists him as a Coaching Fellow.
He’s a 2016 graduate of Stanford University with a degree in Economics, Healthcare Economics. Hernandez is a 2012 graduate of Dozier-Libbey Medical High School and was the 2011 Antioch Youth of the Year. (See related article)
City Races
According to Antioch City Clerk Arne Simonsen, as of 5 p.m. July 22nd the following Antioch residents have qualified for the following City offices:
Mayor
Rakesh Kumar Christian – Qualified on 7/22/20
So far, the only information that can be found on him is that he was a candidate for governor of California in 2014, and that he has a website from 2009 for a new political party he wanted to create, named the American Public Party, and lists himself as the CEO, Owner.
7/23/20 UPDATE: Mystery solved. When reached briefly for a comment on Thursday afternoon, he said his name is Rakesh Kumar Christian and that he is the man who ran for governor in 2014 and that is his website. He had a spinal injury in 2016 which is why he didn’t run in 2018. Christian said he will call back, later and was requested to email his bio or resume to the Herald for more information on his background. Please check back later for any updates to this report.
There were no additional candidates to either take out Nomination Papers or file them for city offices of mayor, council, clerk or treasurer, as of Wednesday afternoon.
This list will be updated when additional registered Antioch voters take out or file Nomination Papers.
the attachments to this post:
Rakesh Kumar Christian from APP website 2009