She ran for re-election as the incumbent Democrat in the 2006 mayoral race and lost to Green Party challenger councilperson Gayle McLaughlin by 192 votes.

She was the first black woman to serve on the Richmond city council[4] and arguably claimed to be the first African American woman elected mayor of a major California city (although Doris A. Davis served as mayor of slightly smaller Compton, California in 1973).

[5] Anderson, born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, was her high school class valedictorian.

As mayor, Anderson worked with the West Contra Costa Unified School District developing after-school programs throughout the city of Richmond.

[citation needed] Anderson died from pancreatic cancer at her home in Richmond, on January 28, 2024, at the age of 93.