Early results from Wednesday suggest that incumbent Councilmembers Igor Tregub and Mark Humbert are on course to win reelection to the City Council in Berkeley’s Districts 4 and 8.
Tregub has garnered 59.1% of the vote, leading his challenger, cafe owner Majdi Gaith Abuhamdieh, who has secured 40.9% of the vote in the battle to represent District 4, which includes downtown Berkeley and parts of central and north Berkeley.
In the race for District 8, comprising the Claremont, Halcyon, and Elmwood neighborhoods in southeastern Berkeley, Humbert has commanded 51.7% of the vote. His challengers are engineer Michael Wallman with 32.9% of the vote, community organizer Mari Mendonca at 12.5%, and attorney Fred Feller at 2.9%.
Berkeley City Council races will be decided by ranked-choice voting, and these figures indicate the number of votes secured by candidates as first-choice picks.
Tregub has represented District 4 since 2024, when he won a special election prompted by his predecessor Kate Harrison resigning in the middle of her term.
“We must continue to advance homeownership opportunities … and implement safer, climate-resilient infrastructure.”
Igor Tregub candidate statement
He has served on the city’s Behavioral Health Commission, the AC Transit Parcel Tax Oversight Committee, the Rent Stabilization Board, and the Berkeley Housing Advisory Commission, according to his candidate statement.
“We must continue to advance homeownership opportunities and rentals that hardworking residents can afford, help the unhoused find the supportive housing and wraparound services they deserve, and implement safer, climate-resilient infrastructure,” Tregub said in his candidate statement.
Humbert, a career federal litigator and mediator, served on Berkeley’s Transportation, Public Works, and Parks, Recreation & Waterfront commissions before winning election to City Council in 2022.
In his candidate statement submitted to the City Clerk for his reelection bid, Humbert counted park enhancement projects — like the Willard Park Clubhouse project — and updating zoning laws to allow middle-density homes like duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes in residential neighborhoods among the highlights of his first term in office.
“I’m asking for your vote to continue working with you to improve public safety, support our small businesses, fix our streets and sidewalks, and make our city more inclusive and affordable,” Humbert said in his candidate statement.