Richmond is a small working-class city in California, north of Berkeley in the San Francisco Bay area. RPA’s approach to politics was a dramatic change of course from the old Democratic Party political machine that had been running the city for decades. Their several victories against the oil company have led to over $114 million in tax revenue being transferred from Chevron to the people of Richmond, which has been used to fund social programs in the city.

RPA candidates took a principled stand and refused corporate money as a rule, and chose to fight on the side of working people rather than make more losing deals with Big Oil.Īccused of being “radical and out-of-touch” by pro-Chevron news outlets, the RPA’s record actually proves the opposite. Corporate interests used every dirty trick imaginable, but Richmond residents didn’t buy it. The RPA ran grassroots campaigns based in community needs and social movements and defeated Chevron-backed opponents in four separate election campaigns. In a town dominated by a single multinational corporation – Chevron – an activist from the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) was able to win the 2006 mayoral race and set the stage for a progressive majority on city council. This book gives activists a chance to study how big business organizes to take down genuine progressive candidates, and provides a model of how to win despite the odds.

Refinery Town by Steve Early, recently published in paperback, is the inspiring true story of a California city taking the lead in the fight against corporate politics.