Of the five candidates vying to replace the departing Berkeley mayor, City Councilmember Sophie Hahn was ahead in early returns with a little more than 40% of the vote Tuesday night, according to information from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters Office.
Of the other candidates, Adena Ishii, a former law clerk turned education consultant, was in second place with 34.31% as of about 10:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Management consultant and former Berkeley City Council member Kate Harrison had with 23.08% of the vote, Naomi Pete had 1.15% and Logan Bowie had 1.13%.
The current mayor, Jesse Arreguín, is leaving office and was running for a state Senate seat in Tuesday’s election.
During the campaign, Hahn touted her in-office accomplishments and the long list of public boards and commissions on which she’s served over the years.
While on the council, she authored an ordinance to reduce the use of “throw away plastics” and another to allow outdoor dining during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She also authored the city’s “Pathways Project, a blueprint for action that has resulted in hundreds of homeless neighbors being rehoused,” according to her campaign website.
Hahn helped the city develop its first reserve fund, which resulted in its highest ever bond rating and helped avoid layoffs and service reductions during the pandemic, she said.
“As mayor, I’ll amplify our leadership on social justice and the environment, while championing housing affordability, responding compassionately to homelessness and mental health crises, and keeping our community safe,” she says in her ballot statement.
Hahn was endorsed by outgoing Mayor Arreguin, councilmembers Susan Wengraf, Ben Bartlett, Terry Taplin, Mark Humbert and Igor Tregub, as well as state Assemblymember Mia Bonta and Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez, along with several unions, including SEIU Local 1021 and the Alameda County Building and Construction Trades Council.
‘Time for a reset’
Ishii was endorsed by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, former Berkeley mayor Tom Bates and Berkeley City Council members Rashi Kesarwani, Terry Taplin, Mark Humbert and Cecilia Lunaparra, among others.
“I’m running for mayor because it’s time for a reset at City Hall,” Ishii says in her candidate statement. “Two city council members resigned this year citing Berkeley’s broken, toxic local government — the actual words they used when they resigned. I’m offering a fresh approach: finding compromise and bringing people together around common sense solutions.”
Harrison resigned in January after seven years on the City Council, citing dysfunction in the city’s bureaucracy, among other things.
“Berkeley’s processes are broken, and I cannot in good conscience continue to serve on this body,” Harrison said at the time, while also vowing to continue her run for the mayor’s office.
Harrison was endorsed by several unions, including the influential SEIU Local 1021, Berkeley School Board President Ana Vasudeo, Councilmember Lunaparra, Berkeley Rent Board chair Leah Simon-Weisberg, and AC Transit Board Director Jovanka Beckles, who is also running for state Senate, among others, according to her campaign website.
Two of the candidates, Pete and Bowie, vowed to raise and spend less than $2,000 on their campaigns.