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Compared with the average voter in Alameda County, Berkeley residents were more supportive of re-electing Gov. Gavin Newsom, affirming the right to abortion, funding arts programs in schools, banning flavored tobacco and imposing an income tax on earnings over $2 million to fund more electric vehicles.
Berkeley voters were more likely than those elsewhere to fill in the bubble for Pamela Price, who was elected as Alameda County District Attorney. And, distinct from voters in every other city in the county, a majority in Berkeley preferred challenger Alfred Twu over incumbent Joel Young for AC Transit board.
Berkeleyside crunched the data, breaking down results by precinct, to show how Berkeley stood apart in its voting for several key county and state contests.
Earlier this week, we published a story breaking down how residents voted in competitive local races.
Pamela Price trumped Terry Wiley in Berkeley, Oakland; results were flipped in Tri-Valley area
Pamela Price, a reform candidate who defeated prosecutor Terry Wiley in the race for Alameda County District Attorney, enjoyed deep support in progressive Berkeley and Oakland. She won 63% of the vote in Berkeley, compared with 53% in Alameda County.
In her campaign, Price emphasized reforming a criminal justice system that puts disproportionate numbers of Black and Latino residents in jail by ending the practice of charging youth as adults and expanding diversion programs.
“We built a movement to bring our justice system in alignment with the people’s progressive values,” Price wrote in an emailed statement.
Wiley touted his experience as a prosecutor, which resonated with voters in the Tri-Valley, where Wiley swept all but one precinct with over 100 voters.
As in the primary, Price’s base was in the Berkeley and Oakland flats. Price consistently earned an impressive three-quarters of the vote, often beating Wiley by 60 percentage points, in precincts near the UC Berkeley campus and in North, West and East Oakland. Price also had support in cities throughout the county, though her margins of victory were narrower in places like Hayward and Newark.
Ryan LaLonde, head of communications for Price, said her progressive platform appealed to voters living in places with higher crime rates and more interactions with police.
“They’ve seen that the current system just hasn’t been working in their favor as victims or in their favor as family members of people who are court-involved,” LaLonde said. In the general election, Price’s campaign strategy was to turn out more votes in areas that backed Price in the June primary or in her failed 2018 primary against Nancy O’Malley, LaLonde said.
Support for Price waned in the higher-income neighborhoods of the East Bay hills. In the Berkeley Hills, Wiley edged out Price by a handful of votes and won by larger margins in the Oakland Hills.
Alfred Twu, AC Transit Board candidate who lost to Joel Young, had strong base in Berkeley
Alfred Twu, a Democratic Party activist, lost his bid to unseat incumbent Joel Young on the AC Transit board by 12 percentage points in Alameda County and 16 percentage points in Contra Costa County.
But in Berkeley, he was by far the more popular candidate.
He won all but a single precinct — 59% of the vote citywide. By comparison, south of Mills College in Oakland, Twu didn’t win a single district with over 100 voters.
“I expected to do well in [Berkeley and Albany] as it’s where I had the most support, volunteers, and press coverage,” Twu wrote in a text message. “The most interesting part is how well I did in downtown Oakland, which wasn’t an area I was able to do much campaigning in.”
Twu, a Berkeley planning commissioner with name-recognition in the city, had earned the endorsement of Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín and all of the city’s councilmembers. He was particularly popular in precincts in the southeast part of the city but lost a low-turnout precinct on UC Berkeley campus.
Twu said the results reflect that, “in the places where more people ride the bus, there’s interest in seeing improvements in how AC Transit is run.”
How Berkeley voted on California propositions
Berkeley voters were more enthusiastic than voters in the rest of the state and county about all the propositions but one — Proposition 27, which would have legalized sports betting online.
The table below shows results for all the statewide propositions. Click each proposition to see how voters in Berkeley compare with the rest of the state and county.
Proposition 30, a high-earners tax for electric vehicles, failed in California but won in Berkeley
In November, Alameda County was one of just seven California counties where a majority of voters cast a yes vote for Proposition 30. The controversial proposition, which would have taxed earnings over $2 million for electric vehicles and wildfire prevention, failed to pass in California, earning 44% of the vote.
But it was popular in Berkeley, winning over 66% of voters. Within Berkeley, Proposition 30 was slightly more popular in the flats than in the hills, but even in the hills, it won a majority in every precinct.
In Berkeley, Newsom got 95% of vote over his Republican challenger
Gov. Gavin Newsom, having survived a recall election last year, defeated his Republican opponent Brian Dahle 59% to 41%. In Berkeley, Newsom won with a landslide 95% of the vote, compared with the 79% he received in Alameda County.
Related story
How your neighbors voted in Berkeley’s November election
Six maps show voting patterns for local ballot measures and races for rent board, school board and city council.