Ten candidates in four districts are vying for seats on Berkeley’s City Council. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLightBerkeley voters are casting their final ballots in four City Council races that, together with the race for mayor, could reshape the city’s government.
Councilmembers Terry Taplin and Ben Bartlett are both being challenged for their seats representing South and Southwest Berkeley (District 2 and District 3), while the two other races are open contests. Susan Wengraf is not running for reelection after four terms representing District 6. And Sophie Hahn is vacating her District 5 seat after two terms as she vies to lead the council as mayor against Kate Harrison and Adena Ishii.
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The council, comprising one member from each of the city’s eight districts and a mayor elected at large, is the legislative body of the city, makes appointments to city boards and commissions and has final hiring and firing power over a number of city executives, including the city manager.
It might take several days or even weeks to know the winner if results are close. City Council elections are done by ranked-choice voting, which could affect the outcome of the District 3 and District 5 races if no candidate garners more than 50% of votes in the first round.
The regularly scheduled general election contests come just months after two special elections — one in April, one in May — brought two new faces to the council following the abrupt back-to-back resignations of Rigel Robinson and Harrison in January.
District 2: Guarino seeks to unseat Taplin
Masters student Jenny Guarino, left, is challenging Terry Taplin for the District 2 seat on the City Council. Credit: Jenny Guarino, city of BerkeleyAcademic labor leader Jenny Guarino is looking to unseat first-term incumbent Terry Taplin in District 2.
The Southwest Berkeley district is home to Bayer’s 46-acre campus; Aquatic, San Pablo and Strawberry Creek parks; and a broad range of residential, commercial and industrial neighborhoods.
Taplin, a poet, transportation activist and former instructional assistant, previously held positions on Berkeley’s transportation and civic arts commissions and currently represents Berkeley at the Alameda County Transportation Commission. He chairs the council’s Public Safety Policy and Facilities, Infrastructure, Transportation, Environment and Stability subcommittees.
Guarino is a master’s student, specializing in affordable housing and urban policy, at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and was elected head steward of UAW 4811, which represents academic student employees at the university. She previously worked as a paralegal and researcher.
Read more about the race on Berkeleyside.
District 3: Matthews, Moore challenge Bartlett
From left: Incumbent Councilmember Ben Bartlett, realtor Deborah Matthews and John “Chip” Moore, a member of the Planning Commission and Police Accountability Board, are running to represent District 3 on the Berkeley City Council. Credit: Submitted imagesRealtor Deborah Matthews and Police Accountability Board chair John “Chip” Moore III are challenging two-term incumbent Ben Bartlett to represent District 3.
The South Berkeley district is sitting on the precipice of large-scale redevelopment at and around the Ashby BART station. It is home to Grove Park and Tim Moellering Field and the Adeline Street commercial corridor, a major thoroughfare between Berkeley and Oakland to the south.
Bartlett, an attorney, previously sat on Berkeley’s transportation and zero waste commissions, advocating for electrical vehicle infrastructure and the city’s plastic bag ban. He also held positions on Berkeley’s Loan Administration Board, Planning Commission and Police Review Commission.
Matthews has run twice before to represent District 3, cofounded and advocated for low- and middle-income housing through South Berkeley Now! and was on the development team for Oakland’s Black Panther Housing Development, which provides low-income housing for people who have previously been incarcerated.
Moore is Bartlett’s appointee to the Planning Commission and PAB and has chaired the Mayor’s Community Advisory Group, co-chaired Berkeley Unified School District’s Reparations Task Force and chaired the Berkeley Progressive Caucus. He founded 4&20 Blackbirds, a cannabis delivery company, and later his own consultancy and is a master’s candidate in public administration at the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy.
District 5: Andrew, Gor, O’Keefe vie to succeed Hahn
From left: Todd Andrew, Nilang Gor and Shoshana O’Keefe are running to represent North Berkeley on the City Council. Courtesy of the candidatesSolano Avenue Business Improvement District Advisory Board chair Todd Andrew, Berkeley High School teacher Shoshana O’Keefe and nonprofit founder Nilang Gor are running to succeed Hahn, who is running for mayor.
The North Berkeley district includes much of the Hopkins Street corridor and several neighborhoods in the western sections of the Berkeley Hills, and sits between Albany to the west and the rest of the Berkeley Hills to the east.
Andrew ran for the position once before in 2020 — when Hahn won her second term — and has sat on the city’s Homeless Commission. Now retired, he previously worked in employee benefits consulting for 15 years before going to work in residential real estate for more than two decades.
Gor is a scientist and senior manager at biotech company Gritstone bio, founder of Cultivate Empathy for All and a board member at the California Plant Based Alliance. He previously sat on Berkeley’s Homeless Commission as well and has volunteered with several organizations that offer services to unhoused Bay Area residents.
O’Keefe has been a Zoning Adjustments Board member for 11 years and was most recently reappointed by Hahn. She is a math and science teacher at Berkeley High School and has previously worked as an immigration attorney. She is a member of the Berkeley High School Site Council and a former parent member of the Malcolm X Elementary School Site Council.
District 6: Blackaby, Katz compete to succeed Wengraf
Brent Blackaby, left, and Andy Katz, right, are running to represent Berkeley City Council District 6 in the 2024 election. Credit: Submitted photosOnline privacy entrepreneur Brent Blackaby and attorney Andy Katz are running to succeed Wengraf on the City Council.
The Northeast Berkeley district stretches north and east from UC Berkeley’s main campus through the Berkeley Hills to the city’s borders with Oakland and the Charles Lee Tilden Regional Park to the east and Kensington to the north.
Blackaby cofounded Confidently, an online privacy operation that offers to clean its clients’ data trails, as well as Trilogy Interactive, a political and advocacy marketing agency. Councilmember Mark Humbert appointed Blackaby to the Police Accountability Board last year.
Katz is a workers rights and environmental attorney and sits on the East Bay Municipal Utilities District’s Board of Directors and Berkeley’s labor, community health and disaster and fire safety commissions and previously sat on the Zoning Adjustments Board and Housing Advisory Commission.
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