Adena Ishii will be Berkeley's next mayor
"I feel like this is the world's longest job interview," she said. "I'm grateful to have gotten the job."
Adena Ishii will be the next mayor of Berkeley, winning the popular vote as well as the ranked-choice contest.
Ishii will be Berkeley's first Asian mayor and the first woman of color to hold the position.
"I feel like this is the world's longest job interview," she said. "I'm grateful to have gotten the job and excited and ready to get to work."
Ishii ran as an outsider candidate who could provide a "reset" to City Hall infighting.
Her campaign focused on housing and homelessness, public safety and infrastructure.
She said she believed those issues resonated with Berkeley voters.
She and her campaign knocked on more than 20,000 doors to spread the word about her candidacy.
"I think people felt heard," she said Friday. "People felt that they could connect with their new mayor, and knew I was going to be listening and paying attention to what they wanted to see in the city."
Editor’s desk
Berkeley mayor's race was tight from start to finish
Early returns in the race saw District 5 Councilwoman Sophie Hahn in first place, initially taking the popular vote as well as the ranked-choice contest.
The first 25,000 ballots showed Hahn with 53% of the ranked-choice vote.
As new results came in, other news outlets erroneously reported that Hahn had widened her lead — even as Ishii began to close the gap by the time about 40,000 ballots had been counted.
Perennial confusion about election office messaging reporting "100%" of the results from all precincts may also have added to the haze.
In fact, that language only means all precincts have partially reported — not that all votes have been tallied.
More significantly, it does not reflect mail-in ballots, which make up the bulk of Alameda County votes.
"I had many people call and say, 'I'm sorry you lost,'" Ishii said.
Emilie Raguso
Last Friday, with about 56,000 Berkeley votes counted, Ishii took the lead for the first time, with 19,268 votes (38%) to Hahn's 18,827 (37%). That triggered a ranked-choice run-off since neither candidate secured more than 50%.
The ranked-choice calculation left Ishii with 24,265 votes (51%) and Hahn with 23,120 (49%).
When the next results came Wednesday, with more than 59,000 votes tallied, Ishii had 19,960 votes (38%) to Hahn's 19,623 (37%).
The ranked-choice contest gave Ishii 25,131 votes (51%) to Hahn's 24,094 (49%).
Adena Ishii still on top in Berkeley mayor's race, 51.06% to 48.94% for Sophie Hahn; 59,210 Berkeley ballots counted in the race. About 56,000 Berkeley ballots had been counted for Berkeley mayor as of Friday (last results). Our last story: https://t.co/3Qpxem7Hb5
— The Berkeley Scanner (@BerkeleyScanner) November 21, 2024
It was a narrow margin of victory, but the registrar of voters said it would be the last major update for this season's Alameda County election results.
A short time later, Hahn called Ishii to concede and wish her well. Hahn also emailed her supporters.
"With the new release of numbers today, the results of this race are clear: Adena Ishii has been chosen by the people of Berkeley to be your next Mayor," Hahn wrote. "While it’s not the outcome we hoped for, I’m full of gratitude for the amazing support you’ve shown."
Hahn gave up her District 5 City Council seat to run for mayor. Shoshana O'Keefe, a close friend and ally of Hahn's, won that race handily.
Ishii said winning the popular vote as well as the ranked-choice rounds showed confidence from the electorate.
"That's a really good feeling," she said Friday.
Emilie Raguso
Ishii has been active with the League of Women Voters locally and at the state level but has never held public office.
She faced an uphill battle from the start, initially vying against three council incumbents: Rigel Robinson, Kate Harrison and Sophie Hahn.
Early on, in a shocking move, Robinson stepped down from his council seat and dropped out of the mayoral race.
Harrison stepped down from council in the months that followed. She continued her mayoral run but many said she tanked her own campaign when she quit.
That prediction appeared to prove true when results came in, with Harrison always a distant third and never a contender for the top spot.
The changing landscape of the race helped vault Adena Ishii into second place.
Adena Ishii: "It's about peaking at the right time"
As time went by, Ishii began to pick up high-profile endorsements, including from Senator Nancy Skinner and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks.
As Election Day neared, the East Bay Times and Mercury News endorsed her as the pragmatic choice for Berkeley mayor who didn't carry some of the baggage that dogged Hahn.
"As someone who has run campaigns, I know that it's about peaking at the right time," Ishii said. "I feel like the timing was just really perfect for those endorsements, which came from the work my team had been putting in so that we would be ready for it."
Berkeley Mayor-elect Adena Ishii: Campaign knocked on 20,000 doors
Ishii said she wouldn't have run for Berkeley mayor if she didn't think she had a real shot.
She credited her campaign's ground game with helping her get the win. In addition to her core team of about 50 people, many more jumped in to help her spread the word.
"We had nearly 200 volunteers," she said. "Many of them came multiple times, not just once."
Ishii said her experience as an organizer helped her put the team together.
"We always had food. We had values and group agreements," she said. "We created a culture that was fun, and made things bite-sized so people were not too overwhelmed by the task at hand."
Ishii also worked to create an inclusive campaign where busy parents and people of differing abilities could easily "plug in."
Ishii said she is still working to put her transition team together but met Friday morning with the city manager, city clerk and city attorney "to make sure we're doing things the right way."
"I'm confident that we'll have a really great team that will guide and support the work we're doing over the next four years," she said.
Berkeley City Council in major flux this year
Adena Ishii. Courtesy of the Adena Ishii campaign
Ishii said she intends to release a plan that will map out her goals for her first 100 days in office.
Her first priority will be to build relationships on and across the Berkeley City Council.
"We have so many new folks," she said.
With Mayor Jesse Arreguín moving on to state Senate, Hahn losing the mayor's race and Susan Wengraf retiring, much of the institutional knowledge is leaving the dais.
Wengraf has served on the Berkeley City Council since 2008, Arreguín since 2009 and Hahn since 2016.
Ben Bartlett (South Berkeley's District 3) is now the longest-running Berkeley City Council member, having been elected in 2016, followed by Rashi Kesarwani (northwest Berkeley's District 1) in 2018 and Terry Taplin (West Berkeley's District 2) in 2020.
Mark Humbert (Claremont/Elmwood's District 8) was elected in 2022 when Lori Droste, who had widespread popular support, chose not to run again.
Igor Tregub (downtown Berkeley's District 4) and Cecilia Lunaparra (Southside Berkeley's District 7) came on only this year.
Now, Mayor Adena Ishii, Shoshana O’Keefe (North Berkeley's District 5) and Brent Blackaby (the Berkeley Hills' District 6) will join them as the newest Berkeley City Council members.
Ishii said there will be a private swearing-in ceremony Dec. 6 followed by the public swearing-in at the Berkeley City Council meeting on Dec. 10.
