Berkeley District 1: Babitt Leads Bernet by 58 First-Choice Votes in Ranked-Choice Race

BERKELEY, Calif. — November 4, 2026. The five-candidate election for Berkeley City Council District 1 shows a slim lead in first-choice votes, but that is not the same thing as a final winner under ranked-choice voting. Laura Babitt has 983 first-choice votes (26.81%) to Ross Bernet’s 925 (25.23%), a difference of 58 votes, in the updated Berkeley election-results display sourced to the Alameda County Registrar.

The reported first-choice order

Behind Babitt and Bernet, the display lists Daria Wrubel with 838 (22.86%), Moni Gangopadhyay with 581 (15.85%) and Steve Kromer with 339 (9.25%). The race is for the seat being vacated by Rashi Kesarwani.

Why first place may not decide the outcome

Berkeley uses ranked-choice voting in this contest. If no candidate achieves the requisite majority, lower-ranked candidates may be eliminated and ballots transferred to the next available preference in subsequent rounds. Therefore the first-choice column must not be treated as the final result of the election. Readers can review the Alameda County Registrar’s ranked-choice tabulation page for the round-by-round reporting.

How this fits into Berkeley’s election

Other city council districts also voted November 3. California58 already published a separate report on Berkeley Districts 4, 7 and 8; District 1 warrants its own story because the field includes five candidates and the first-choice margin is narrow.

Sources: TrackASUC election display and Alameda County Registrar of Voters. Numbers represent a November 4 reported snapshot of first preferences and are unofficial; 100% of precincts reporting in a tracker does not mean that every outstanding eligible ballot has been counted.

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