The Berkeley candidate Endorsement Web

Who’s endorsing who in Berkeley’s upcoming election? The Daily Californian mapped which political groups and elected officials are backing which candidates. Use the interactive graph below to view endorsements by race or by candidate. Compare candidate endorsements by clicking their name and the “+ Compare” button.

We found a total of 211 endorsements given from organizations toward 22 candidates. Berkeley City Council District 4 candidate, incumbent Igor Tregub, received the most endorsements at 35. His contender Majdi “Gaith” Abuhamdieh received five, one of which is from the Flip the Berkeley City Council 2026 coalition that aims to defeat incumbents such as Tregub.

District 1 candidate Steve Kromer has no organizational endorsements listed on his website. Instead, it lists five individuals as “neighbors who have signed on,” including Rent Stabilization Board candidate Carole Marasovic. Kromer stated in a Berkeley Scanner interview that he does not seek endorsements and has built his campaign through a grassroots network.

District 8 candidate Fred Feller dropped out of the race for personal reasons but decided to endorse Michael Wallman as his first choice and Mari Mendonca as his second.

There are five open seats but six candidates for the Rent Stabilization Board. Five of the candidates —Vylma Ortiz, Avery Arbaugh, Derek Rodriguez, Ida Martinac and Nathan Mizell — are running together in the Berkeley Right to Housing Rent Board Slate, while Carole Marasovic is running alone.

Most of the candidates in the slate are endorsed together; for example, the Berkeley Tenants Union and Green Party of Alameda County endorse all five slate members. However, there are a few exceptions: the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club endorses only Avery Arbaugh, Ida Martinac and Nathan Mizell of the slate, along with Marasovic. Similarly, the Alameda County Democratic Party endorses Marasovic as well as all slate members except for Derek Rodriguez.

One of Marasovic’s most notable endorsements is the Berkeley Democratic Club, which states in its voter guide that the club prefers her independent platform that focuses on outcomes over ideology.

The Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, which is passionate about police accountability and reducing surveillance in Berkeley, does not endorse any of the District 4 candidates. Despite Tregub’s many endorsements, after speaking to the club on issues such as policing, surveillance, housing, and homelessness, he did not reach the threshold 60% of members’ votes to secure their endorsement, according to the club’s organizing coordinator Kate Harrison.

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