Analysis of Berkeley city council election using ranked choice voting
Last week, Berkeley, California used ranked choice voting (RCV) for a special city council election. Preliminary results were released on Election Night, and candidate Igor Tregub declared victory this Tuesday, June 4.
Four candidates – Tregub, Ruben Hernández Story, Elana Auerbach, and Soli Alpert – ran to replace outgoing District 4 councilmember Kate Harrison. Berkeley’s municipal elections are nonpartisan, but all four identify as progressive. Voters ranked an average of 3.1 candidates out of the four.
Tregub and Hernández Story were dubbed the “pragmatic progressives” in the race, and ran on similar platforms. Hernández Story held an incredibly narrow lead among voters’ first choices, with 670 votes to Tregub’s 667. After Alpert and Auerbach were eliminated, Tregub edged out Hernández Story, 51% to 49%. RCV gave Alpert and Auerbach voters an opportunity to weigh in between the closely matched frontrunners, ensuring a truly representative result in a crowded field. The results were last updated on June 4, but have not been certified as of June 7.
Several organizations took advantage of the opportunity offered by RCV and made ranked endorsements, including a local newspaper and a local activist group. RCV prompts voters to take a closer look at their options, since they can express which candidates they like beyond their favorite.
After declaring victory, Tregub told voters:
Our positive campaign focused on my deep experience serving the people of Berkeley, my desire to heal the divides in our city and find common ground, and the need for a City Council member focused on constituent services and solving problems in District 4.
Berkeley has used RCV since 2010 to elect its mayor, city council, and city auditor. RCV has improved representation and campaign civility across the Bay Area, where it is used in several cities.
Image of Berkeley adapted from the original by Pedrik under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
