Berkeley's open District 1 council seat is a close race. Berkeleyside reported that former school board president Laura Babitt led the first-choice count with 26.6%, ahead of Ross Bernet at 25% and therapist Daria Wrubel at 23.2%. After ranked-choice rounds, Babitt stayed ahead, but Wrubel moved into second and trailed her by fewer than 150 votes. The district covers the Marina, Westbrae and Fourth Street, and incumbent Rashi Kesarwani is leaving.
In District 7, which covers the UC Berkeley campus and Southside, Democratic Socialist student organizer Syrak Micael declared victory. Local News Matters reported he had 68% of the vote to Aidan Hill's 32%. The winner succeeds Cecilia Lunaparra, who did not run again.
Incumbent Mark Humbert led District 8, which covers the Elmwood and has been the center of resistance to a housing plan he supports. He had 51.7% of first choices, and after ranked-choice rounds he led Michael Wallman 57.3% to 42.7%, a gap of 484 votes, Berkeleyside reported. Incumbent Igor Tregub was also ahead.
About 27,000 ballots had been counted citywide by early Wednesday; Berkeley has roughly 75,000 registered voters. Alameda County Registrar Cynthia Cornejo said the next update comes Friday. Berkeleyside noted that a close District 1 race four years ago took 10 days to call.
Vote counts cited here are unofficial. Bay Area counties are still processing mail and provisional ballots, and results are not certified until later this month, so margins can change.