Mark Humbert is in the lead for Berkeley City Council District 8 with 64.05% of the votes as of 5 p.m. Wednesday with 100% of the precincts accounted for.
Mari Mendonca is in second place with 23.71% of the votes while Peter Bruce DuMont is in third with 5.29% of the votes. Also running in the election is Mary-Lee Smith, who has received 4.02% of the votes, and Jay Wu with 2.93%.
Working as a federal employee benefits attorney and formerly serving as president of the Claremont Elmwood Neighborhood Association, Humbert has previous experience working with City Council through a variety of commissions. His platform centers on cultivating accessible housing and improving public and pedestrian safety.
“I really care about Berkeley, and I care about making sure that Berkeley is a good place to live for a wide range of people, people who don’t make a lot of money and need affordable housing,” Humbert previously told The Daily Californian.
Should he secure a victory, Humbert would be replacing City Councilmember Lori Droste; Droste has served as an elected official in the city of Berkeley for nearly eight years. Over the course of the race, Droste vocalized her support for Humbert’s candidacy.
Humbert has received endorsements from organizations such as the Alameda County Democratic Party, the Berkeley Democratic Club, the Sierra Club, the Berkeley Firefighters’ Association and the Asian Pacific American Democratic Caucus of Alameda County. He has also been endorsed by elected officials such as Mayor Jesse Arreguín, California Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, State Senator Nancy Skinner and City Councilmembers Droste, Rigel Robinson, Sophie Hahn and Susan Wengraf.
Mendonca received the next highest number of votes with 372 – Humbert received 1,005. Mendonca serves as a commissioner on Berkeley’s Rent Stabilization Board and is the vice chair of the Housing Advisory Committee. A long-time city resident, her campaign is focused on rent stabilization, diverse representation and increased transparency in policy making.
She was endorsed by individuals and organizations such as the Berkeley Tenants’ Union, Our Revolution East Bay, former mayor Gus Newport, Berkeley School Board Vice President Laura Babitt and Rent Board Commissioner Paola Laverde.
“We are in one of the most challenging times of our generation. Our economy and the cost of living has created one of the largest divides of equity, access and livability,” Mendonca previously told the Daily Cal. “I come from grassroots organizing, connecting with and working alongside my community.”
DuMont received the third-highest number of votes at 83. A UC Berkeley alumnus and founder of Star Alliance, his run was focused on the “championing” of civic ideals, the housing crisis, a limit on campus enrollment and “alternative” methods of police reform.
Smith received the fourth-highest number of votes at 63 while Wu received the fewest at 46.
