Elections Remain Close in Berkeley and Alameda

The mayor’s race in the city of Alameda and the District 8 City Council race in Berkeley remained close in updated election results released today by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters office.

In Alameda, school board member Trish Spencer is still leading incumbent Mayor Marie Gilmore, but her margin has decreased from 174 votes on Thursday to 129 votes today, 10,443 votes to 10,314. In percentage terms, Spencer leads with 50.15 percent compared to 49.53 percent for Gilmore.

In the Berkeley District 8 race, teacher Lori Droste’s lead over George Beier, the president of the Willard Neighborhood Association, has fallen from 12 votes on Sunday to only 4 votes today, 2,058 to 2,054. In percentage terms, Droste has 50.05 percent compared to Beier’s 49.05 percent. Droste finished first in the first round of voting in the four-candidate race with with 28.06 percent, entrepreneur Mike Cohen finished second with 27.49 percent, Beier was third with 25.97 percent and Jacquelyn McCormick finished fourth with 18.47 percent. But Beier initially came out on top after ranked-choice tabulations were made Wednesday morning and later last week. The winner in District 8 will replace City Councilman Gordon Wozniak, who is retiring after 12 years in office.

Registrar of Voters officials said they will update the election results again on Wednesday. They said only a small number of ballots remain to be counted countywide.

By Bay City News