2 Berkeley council members won’t seek re-election

People sit around a semi-curcular dais, in front of a rainbow flag and flag reading "Black Lives Matter." Members of the Berkeley City Council are seen in a 2025 file photo. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/Catchlight

Berkeley Councilmembers Rashi Kesarwani and Cecilia Lunaparra say they won’t run for re-election, meaning two of this year’s four council races will not feature an incumbent on the ballot.

Councilmembers Igor Tregub and Mark Humbert both told Berkeleyside they are planning to seek new four-year terms representing the city’s core and its southeast corner, respectively.

The field for November’s council races is still a long way from being set, as the deadlines for candidates to file for office aren’t until August.

Kesarwani has represented Northwest Berkeley’s District 1 since 2018, while Lunaparra was elected to the student-dominated District 7 seat covering the Southside neighborhood during a special election in 2024.

Kesarwani championed the effort to build hundreds of apartments atop the parking lots at the North Berkeley BART station in her district, as well as other zoning and policy changes meant to increase housing construction throughout the city. She also authored a policy that expanded the city’s authority to remove homeless encampments without offering their residents shelter elsewhere, pushed for Berkeley to dedicate a bigger share of its budget to street paving and more recently has backed the police department’s requests for new surveillance technology.

In a post on her LinkedIn page, Kesarwani thanked her family members, council colleagues, city workers and others.

“It has truly been an honor to serve the residents of Berkeley’s District 1 for these past nearly eight years,” she wrote. “We have been relentless in our pursuit of progress, and I am incredibly proud of the tangible results we’ve delivered together.

“I feel extremely lucky for the opportunity afforded to me by the voters, and I intend to continue my work to ensure greater opportunity for the next generation of Californians.”

Kesarwani’s decision was first reported by the Berkeley Scanner.

Lunaparra was a UC Berkeley undergrad when she won her two-year term at a tumultuous moment for city politics, filling the seat vacated by former Councilmember Rigel Robinson in the first of two sudden resignations in early 2024. As student protests against the Israeli war in Gaza intensified at UC Berkeley and colleges nationwide — and the Berkeley City Council refused to take up a resolution calling for an end to the bombardment, leading to raucous protests at its meetings — Lunaparra made her support for the Palestinian cause central to her campaign.

She also backed moves to build more housing as a council member, though Lunaparra and Kesarwani were on the opposite sides of several other high-profile debates. Lunaparra has pushed for tighter accountability measures for police and wants the department to end its contract with the surveillance technology company Flock Safety. She opposed the new policy for encampment sweeps.

“I have found it immensely gratifying and humbling to wake up every morning with the incredible responsibility of being the voice of my neighborhood, of students, and of progressives in City Hall,” Lunaparra wrote in a statement, in which she also thanked her family, staff and other council members. “I am immensely proud of everything we have accomplished. I am also equally proud of the fights that we have fought and lost, because they were fights worth having.”

She added that she plans to “continue my life’s work of organizing and supporting the places and people I care so deeply about.”

City records show three people — John Espinoza, Aidan Hill and Syrak Micael — have filed to run for the District 7 seat as of Tuesday. Lunaparra endorsed Micael in her statement.

One person, Manisha “Moni” Gangopadhyay, has filed for the District 1 race. Kesarwani has not made an endorsement.

Tregub, who represents downtown and central Berkeley, and Humbert, whose district includes the Elmwood and Claremont neighborhoods, are the only candidates who have filed for their races so far.

“While in my nearly 18 months on the council we’ve been able to make headway in tackling some of the district’s and city’s toughest challenges, I will be seeking a full term to continue the progress we started, working hand in hand with these communities,” Tregub wrote in a statement.

“Berkeley’s future is personal to me,” Humbert wrote in his own statement. “I’m running for reelection in District 8 to continue my work on housing, public safety, and better streets. I want Berkeley to be an affordable, safe, and inclusive place where my own daughters have the same opportunity I did to raise a family.”

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