Extra

Ishii Elected Mayor

Adena Ishii 19,268 (38.2%)

Sophie Hahn 18,827 (37.3%)

Kate Harrison 11,388 (22.6%)

Others 989 ( 2.0%)

Total 52,448

Ranked Choice Vote

Ishii 25,131 (51.1%)

Hahn 24,092 (48.9%)

Kate Harrison voters favored Ishii over Hahn by 4841 to 4174 with 3086 making no second choice. 

Results are still unofficial, but the final official results in the Statement of Vote for this election will not be more than slightly different if past elections are any guide. The California Secretary of State had reported that 17,675 ballots remained to be counted, and this last undate which increased countywide turnout from 69.1% to 71.02% is consistent with all those votes having been counted. 

Nikki Fortunato Bas Elected Supervisor 

In a very close race, Bas defeated Bauters by 415 votes.  

Bas 71,136 (50.2%) 

Bauters 70,721 (49.9%) 

Bas won in South and West Berkeley, and in student areas, while Bauters won mostly precincts in the Berkeley hills.  

Turnout 

Despite the threat to democracy posed by Trump, turnout in Berkeley was down a lot this year. In 2016 when Jesse Arreguin defeated Laurie Capitelli for mayor, 58,994 votes were cast for mayor. In 2020, when Arreguin easily won re-election over animal rights activist, Wayne Hsiung, 57,885 votes were cast. But this year only 52,448 voted for someone for mayor, a big drop.  

Ishii is the first candidate for mayor since Gus Newport in 1979 to be elected without having first held some other elected office. 

This election marks the first time in over 50 years, if not longer, where there were three mayoral candidates who each topped 20% of first choice votes. Up to now, Berkeley elections have come down to a choice between two major candidates, usually one more progressive or left, and the other more liberal/moderate. Ranked choice voting and second choice votes were crucial this year. As a result, Ishii is the first person elected mayor in at least the last five decades who received less than 40% of the vote.  

Campaign Contributions 

Hahn, who did not opt to participate in public financing, raised more money than Ishii, but not by much. Based on numbers available so far, Ishii, who took advantage of public financing raised about $30,000 less than Hahn. 80% of 351 early contributors to Ishii’s campaign, those who contributed in 2023, were people who live outside Berkeley. Like Buffy Wicks, who was also unknown to voters when she ran for Assembly in 2018, Ishii relied on out of town money to get her campaign going and to make herself known. For the election as a whole, close to half of her contributors were not Berkeley residents. In a later post, a fuller assessment of campaign finances will be provided. 

Independent expenditures in support or opposition to mayoral candidates did not play any role in this year’s election. Independent expenditures played a big role in the District 5 supervisor’s race where real estate groups poured money into hit pieces attacking Nikki Bas. Union expenditures by a committee sponsored by SEIU Local 1021 supported Bas.