Update: Adena Ishii gains on Sophie Hahn in race for Berkeley mayor

Berkeley mayoral candidate Sophie Hahn arrives at the joint watch party for Hahn, City Council District 6 candidate Andy Katz and District 5 candidate Shoshana O’Keefe at Gather restaurant on Election Night. Credit: Kelly Sullivan, Berkeleyside

Update, Nov. 11: Nonprofit consultant Adena Ishii gained substantial ground over Councilmember Sophie Hahn in the race for Berkeley mayor after updated election results were posted Monday afternoon.

In ranked-choice voting, Ishii pulled within 382 votes after the Alameda County Registrar of Voters updated results just before 3 p.m. Monday.

Hahn had 14,263 first-place votes to Ishii’s 13,630, a difference of 1%, but she lost ground in ranked-choice voting.

Update, Nov. 8: Councilmember Sophie Hahn’s lead over nonprofit consultant Adena Ishii grew in updated election results posted Friday afternoon.

Hahn had 1,074 more first-place votes than Ishii in the returns posted by Alameda County shortly before 5 p.m., which was the most significant update to the results since the hours after polls closed. The North Berkeley Councilmember maintained that lead through the ranked-choice voting process — although Ishii hoped to win support from backers of former councilmember Kate Harrison, the tabulation posted Friday shows Hahn has a slight advantage in picking up their lower-choice votes.

Original story, Nov. 5: Early returns show Councilmember Sophie Hahn holding a narrow lead over nonprofit consultant Adena Ishii in the race for Berkeley mayor after ranked-choice results were tabulated early Wednesday morning.

The initial batch of just under 17,000 votes that were posted in the hours after polls closed showed Hahn was the first choice on about 40% of ballots, which means the race would come down to ranked-choice voting. Ishii trailed her in second place by just over 800 votes, with former Councilmember Kate Harrison farther back in third.

Hahn maintained her lead over Ishii, 53% to 47%, once voters’ second-, third- or fourth-place votes were taken into account.

Nearly 60,000 votes were cast in the 2020 mayoral election. It might take several days to know the final winner.

The three leading candidates spent Tuesday night at parties with their supporters around Berkeley.

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When no mayoral candidate receives 50% of first-choice votes, an instant-runoff process called ranked-choice voting comes into play and votes are reallocated until the top candidate crosses the 50% threshold. See the full ranked-choice voting report for the mayor’s race. The following chart shows raw numbers for voters’ first-choice preferences.

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There was a mixed atmosphere inside Hahn’s event at the downtown restaurant Gather, as supporters — many of them wearing shirts, buttons or hats from the Kamala Harris campaign — nervously watched a muted screen showing MSNBC’s coverage of the presidential race. Still, Hahn said she felt “really excited and appreciative of the really strong support the community is showing me.”

The candidates for mayor of Berkeley, clockwise from top left: Logan Bowie, Sophie Hahn, Kate Harrison, Naomi Pete and Adena Ishii. Credit: Submitted photos

“I’m excited about Berkeley — I have always had faith that we can get good things done here, regardless of what happens in Sacramento or Washington, D.C.,” Hahn said.

In the backyard of Ishii’s South Berkeley home, supporters similarly scrolled for updates in local and national races. They cheered late Tuesday night as a fresh batch of results showed Ishii pulling closer to Hahn in the first-choice vote tally.

Ishii said she believes her campaign can pick up more first-place votes and draw second-choice support from backers of Harrison, which could provide a path to victory. The early returns, however, showed Harrison’s voters splitting their second-choice ballots roughly evenly between Hahn and Ishii.

“It’s what we hoped for,” Ishii said of the results. “We are cautiously optimistic.”

Berkeley Mayoral candidate Adena Ishii gives a speech to friends and supporters at an election night watch party at her residence in South Berkeley, Nov. 5, 2024. Credit: Adahlia Cole

Meanwhile, Harrison said she was waiting to see more votes come in before commenting.

“There are no results. I have nothing to say,” Harrison told a reporter at her watch party inside Cafe Leila in Northwest Berkeley. “We’ll find out tomorrow.”

Berkeley mayoral candidate Kate Harrison talks to friends and supporters at her election night watch party at Cafe Leila in Berkeley. Credit: Colin Peck

The next mayor of Berkeley will guide a City Council that could soon be full of fresh faces: four of the eight other council seats are up for election Tuesday, two of them in races with no incumbents. Two other members have been on the council for just a few months after winning special elections last summer prompted by the unprecedented back-to-back resignations of Harrison and Rigel Robinson, who had been part of the mayor’s race before he left office and shut down his campaign. Meanwhile, longtime City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley stepped down in July, and the council appointed one of her former deputies, Paul Buddenhagen, to fill the role.

Hahn pitched herself during the campaign as an experienced and effective veteran of city politics who would steer Berkeley through this pivotal moment. Harrison’s campaign, meanwhile, positioned her as a similarly seasoned candidate, but sought to draw support from voters who are frustrated with the city’s direction on issues such as housing and commercial development. Ishii, who has never held elected office, emphasized her work in nonpartisan organizations such as the League of Women Voters to make the case that she would “reset” city politics that critics say has turned toxic.

They are vying to replace Mayor Jesse Arreguín, who is leaving City Hall to seek a state Senate seat after two terms in the mayor’s office and eight years as a council member.

Ishii’s campaign picked up endorsements from four council members, two of whom backed her as a second choice, as well as state Sen. Nancy Skinner and Asm. Buffy Wicks. But it was Hahn who locked up most of the council’s support, as Arreguín and five other councilmembers backed her bid as a first choice. Harrison had support from several progressive advocacy groups and one current council member, Cecilia Lunaparra.

Ishii and Harrison participated in Berkeley’s public financing program, which limits individual contributions to $60 but provides a six-to-one match for donations from city residents. Hahn declined to take part in the program, meaning she could accept donations of up to $270.

As of Oct. 19, the last campaign finance deadline before Election Day, Hahn’s campaign had spent about $160,000, compared to just over $140,000 spent by both Harrison and Ishii. Hahn also held a cash advantage of about $20,000 over Harrison and Ishii heading into the final weeks of the race.