# Berkeley City Council, District 1 Compare records and positions simply between Steve Kromer, Daria Wrubel, Laura Babitt, and 2 more for Berkeley City Council, District 1 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would hold one of eight district seats on the Berkeley City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Berkeley is an Alameda County city of about 124,000 people. The term is four years. Half the Council's district seats are elected on the presidential cycle. Those are Districts 2, 3, 5, and 6. This seat is elected on the same cycle as the Governor. The Auditor is elected on that cycle too. The seat is decided by ranked choice voting. - Jurisdiction: City of Berkeley - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/berkeley-council-district-1 - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: September 1, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 92 out of 100 (Very strong), across 9 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Steve Kromer** — Energy Efficiency Engineer - **Daria Wrubel** — Youth Therapist - **Laura Babitt** — Auditor/Operations Director - **Ross Bernet** — Environmental Program Manager - **Moni Gangopadhyay** — Consumer Protection Investigator A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Five candidates are running for Berkeley's open District 1 seat in Northwest Berkeley. Two-term Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani is not seeking reelection. This is the most crowded council race of the cycle. This person would hold one of eight district seats on the Berkeley City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use in this Alameda County city of about 124,000, for a 4-year term. Half the Council's district seats (2, 3, 5, 6) are elected on the presidential cycle; District 1 is elected, along with the Auditor and Districts 4, 7, and 8, on the same cycle as the Governor. This election is decided by ranked-choice voting: you may rank up to five candidates in order of preference. If no candidate has a majority of first choices, the last-place candidate is eliminated and those ballots count for their next choice, repeating until one candidate has a majority. ## Laura Babitt Laura Babitt is a former member of the Berkeley Unified school board. She served there as vice president. Her ballot designation is Auditor and Operations Director. Ka'Dijah Brown is the sitting BUSD board president. Brown has publicly credited Babitt's "hands-on experience as an educator" as valuable input to the board's decisions. **Strengths:** A prior elected term on a different Berkeley public body. That gave her direct experience with public debate and budgets. She also has on-record praise from a sitting former colleague. **Trade-offs:** No Form 460 was on file for her council committee. So there is no fundraising total to compare. Her filings do show active use of the city's public matching funds program. **Keep in mind:** Her BUSD board service is school governance, not city government. It is relevant work with a different public body. It is not a direct preview of council work. ## Ross Bernet Ross Bernet works as a senior program manager at Microsoft. They work on carbon removal and environmental projects. Their ballot designation is Environmental Program Manager. Their committee, Ross Bernet for Council 2026, reported $4,449 in money raised for the first half of 2026. That is the second-largest total among the five District 1 candidates. **Strengths:** A tech sector background in environmental programs. Bernet's fundraising total is near the top of a five candidate field. **Trade-offs:** No news coverage of their candidacy was found beyond Berkeleyside's own roundup. **Keep in mind:** Their corporate title is Microsoft program manager. That is a different kind of environmental work than direct climate policy or land use experience. Weigh it against what District 1's own priorities are. Do not assume it maps onto council work. ## Moni Gangopadhyay Moni Gangopadhyay works as a policy coordinator for energy efficiency at the California Public Utilities Commission. That comes from Berkeleyside's own reporting. Their ballot designation is Consumer Protection Investigator. Their committee, Gangopadhyay for City Council 2026, reported $3,307 in total contributions for the first half of 2026. That total includes $500 nonmonetary. The committee also reported $2,163 in spending. **Strengths:** State agency policy experience in energy and utility rules. That area meets city land use and climate work. **Trade-offs:** Their reported day job is CPUC energy coordinator. Their filed designation is Consumer Protection Investigator. These may name two facets of one job. Both are given as reported, not resolved. **Keep in mind:** State regulatory experience is not the same as city council experience. Their platform specifics were not found beyond their own campaign materials. ## Steve Kromer Steve Kromer works as an energy efficiency consultant, per Berkeleyside's own reporting. Their ballot designation matches. It is Energy Efficiency Engineer. No 2026 campaign committee was found for them on Berkeley's NetFile portal under that name. The only close match from the portal's own candidate search is a different person, "Kromer, John." **Strengths:** A background in energy efficiency. That bears directly on Berkeley's climate and building decarbonization work. **Trade-offs:** With no campaign committee found, there is no fundraising signal to compare against the other four candidates. **Keep in mind:** The missing NetFile committee could mean self-funding below the state's filing threshold. It could mean a very recent filing. It could be a name search miss. No independent confirmation was found either way. ## Daria Wrubel Daria Wrubel is a child and young adult therapist. They are self-employed at Grounded Therapy in Albany. Their ballot designation is Youth Therapist. Their own committee is Daria Wrubel for City Council 2026. It reported just $120 in contributions and no spending for the first half of 2026. That is the smallest campaign finance footprint in the race. Campaign finance records show Wrubel separately gave $60 to District 4 incumbent Igor Tregub's committee in June 2026. **Strengths:** A clinical background working with youth. It sets Wrubel apart from the rest of the field. **Trade-offs:** The smallest fundraising total of the five District 1 candidates by a wide margin. That may reflect a late campaign start rather than a lack of support. **Keep in mind:** Wrubel's contribution to a different district's incumbent, Tregub, is a real filed campaign finance record. It is not evidence of any endorsement between the two. It is listed here as exactly what the filing shows. ## Sources 1. [City of Berkeley -- City Clerk Mark Numainville's signed "Nominees for Public Office" notice for the Nov. 3, 2026 General Municipal Election (dated Aug. 19, 2026): lists all 23 candidates across all seven Berkeley races in ballot order with their exact ballot designations -- Auditor, Council Districts 1/4/7/8, Rent Stabilization Board Commissioner, and School Board Director.](https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/Notice%20of%20Candidates%20Nov%203%202026%20-%20WEB%20Version.pdf) 2. [Alameda County Registrar of Voters -- own JSON API behind its "Candidate List" web app (electionId 260 = General Election - 11/03/2026, Official): the candidatelist/260 endpoint returns every race category countywide with no County category at all (zero Board of Supervisors/row-office/judicial seats on the Nov. 2026 general), and the racelist/260/600 endpoint names all 46 City-category races countywide, including the exact seven Berkeley races (four Council districts, Auditor, Rent Stabilization Board, School Directors) with their raceIds and vote-for-N seat counts -- confirming Alameda County publishes a unified countywide candidate document, unlike Santa Clara County.](https://www.alamedacountyca.gov/rov_app/racelist/260/600) 3. [Alameda County Registrar of Voters -- the same candidatelist app's per-race candidate-detail view (POST to /rov_app/candidatelist/ with electionId=260 and each Berkeley raceId), queried directly for all seven Berkeley races: returns each candidate's exact ballot designation, filing agency, and on-ballot status -- the same roster as the City Clerk's own Notice of Candidates, independently confirming all 23 names and designations.](https://www.alamedacountyca.gov/rov_app/candidatelist/) 4. [City of Berkeley -- "Candidate Information" elections page: states which offices are elected on the presidential cycle (Mayor; Council Districts 2, 3, 5, 6) versus the gubernatorial cycle (Auditor; Council Districts 1, 4, 7, 8) -- both alongside Rent Board and School Board, which are elected every cycle -- and states the vote-threshold rule: Mayor/Auditor/Council require ranked-choice majority; Rent Board/School Board are decided by plurality.](https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/elections/candidate-information) 5. [City of Berkeley -- "Voting Information" elections page: states in full how Berkeley's ranked-choice voting works for Mayor, City Council, and Auditor (voters may rank up to five choices; last-place elimination repeats until one candidate has a majority) and that Rent Stabilization Board and School Board are decided by plurality vote instead, "typically multiple candidates elected at each election."](https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/elections/voting-information) 6. [Berkeleyside -- "Election 2026: Who's running for Berkeley City Council, school board and more" (originally published Aug. 14, 2026, updated Aug. 19, 2026 to report Fred Feller's withdrawal from the District 8 race), read in full: profiles every 2026 candidate across all seven Berkeley races by name, occupation, and background; reports incumbent Rashi Kesarwani (D1), Cecilia Lunaparra (D7), and Lori Droste's since-2022 successor context are not seeking reelection; and reports Rent Board incumbent Vanessa Marrero's disqualification from the ballot over a signature shortfall and her stated plan to challenge it.](https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/08/19/berkeley-election-candidates-city-council-rent-board-school-board) 7. [City of Berkeley's own NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance portal (aid=BRK), queried directly via its own QuickNameSearch and filings/byCandidate JSON API for all 23 2026 candidates, with each candidate's most recent 2026 FPPC Form 460 (the Jan. 1-June 30, 2026 semi-annual statement) downloaded directly via the portal's own CampaignDocuments/download endpoint and read for its actual reported totals. Real H1 2026 totals (monetary contributions raised / total expenditures / public-financing matching funds received, where applicable): Jenny Wong (Auditor) $6,916 / $1,109; Laura Babitt (D1) no 2026 committee Form 460 on file yet, only a Form 410/501 -- her filings show active participation in the city's public-financing matching-funds program; Ross Bernet (D1) $4,449 / $209; Moni Gangopadhyay (D1) $3,307 (incl. $500 nonmonetary) / $2,163; Steve Kromer (D1) no committee located; Daria Wrubel (D1) $120 / $0; Igor Tregub (D4) $10,287 / $3,405, plus $20,670 in public matching funds; Majdi "Gaith" Abuhamdieh (D4) no Form 460 on file, only a Form 410/501; Aidan Hill (D7) $1,102 / $257 on his current District 7 committee (a separate, older "Aidan Hill for Berkeley City Council 2022" committee also remains on file from a prior run, not further researched here); Syrak Micael (D7) $5,698 / $4,444, plus $12,600 in public matching funds; Mark Humbert (D8) $1,630 / $56; Michael Wallman and Fred Feller (D8) no Form 460 on file, only a Form 410/501 each; Mari Mendonca (D8) an active committee reporting $0 contributions and $0 expenditures this period; Carole Marasovic (Rent Board) an active committee reporting $0 contributions and $0 expenditures this period; Avery Arbaugh (Rent Board) no 2026 Form 460 on file, only records from an unsuccessful 2024 Rent Board run; Ida Martinac (Rent Board) no 2026 Form 460 on file yet, only a Form 410/501; Nathan Mizell (Rent Board) an interim Jan. 1-May 10, 2026 report showing $0 contributions and $0 expenditures; Vylma Ortiz and Derek Rodriguez (Rent Board) no Form 460 on file, only a Form 410/501 each; Sandy Park (School Board) $1,860 / $138; Jennifer Shanoski (School Board) $5,410 / $662, plus $19,140 in public matching funds; Ka'Dijah Brown (School Board) filed her new 2026 committee's organizing paperwork July 23, 2026, after the H1 reporting window closed, so no H1 2026 Form 460 exists for it yet.](https://netfile.com/public/berkeley/campaign) 8. [Wikipedia's Berkeley, California article -- 2020 census population (124,321), the 4th-largest city in Alameda County.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley,_California) 9. [Berkeleyside -- "At 30, Ka'Dijah Brown is Berkeley school board's youngest president -- and its only teacher" (by Ally Markovich, March 2, 2022), read in full: Brown grew up in Berkeley and attended Berkeley public schools through Berkeley High (class of 2009), teaches fifth grade at a Richmond charter school, was first elected to the board in 2018, and was chosen by her fellow directors as board president in December 2021 after a year as vice president.](https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/03/02/kadijah-brown-berkeley-school-board-youngest-president) ## The rest of the ballot Berkeley City Council, District 1 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "Berkeley City Council, District 1 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/berkeley-council-district-1 (sources last retrieved September 1, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.