{"id":346810,"date":"2026-06-04T18:17:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T18:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/346810\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T18:17:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T18:17:22","slug":"its-my-civic-duty-but-im-exhausted-berkeley-voters-cast-their-ballots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/346810\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s my civic duty, but I\u2019m exhausted\u2019: Berkeley voters cast their ballots\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\""VoteOutside the Berkeley Youth Alternatives vote center near Strawberry Creek Park Tuesday morning. Credit: Hope Mu\u00f1oz\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

Berkeley voters had a largely hopeful outlook on this cloudy Tuesday morning as they hit the polls to vote in the primary election.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The race for California governor was the big-ticket attraction. It\u2019s been a chaotic campaign, and there is no clear leader among candidates vying to advance in the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. About 60 candidates are on Tuesday\u2019s ballot, including Democrats Xavier Becerra, a former state attorney general and U.S. health secretary; Tom Steyer, a billionaire climate activist; Katie Porter, a former member of Congress; and Republicans Steve Hilton, a conservative commentator, and Chad Bianco, sheriff of Riverside County.<\/p>\n

With no Berkeley races on the ballot, the most prominent local race is for Alameda County district attorney. Appointed DA Ursula Jones Dickson, a former judge and deputy prosecutor, is being challenged by her predecessor Pamela Price \u2014 a reformist civil rights attorney recalled in 2024 \u2014 and Gopal Krishan, a family law attorney.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Berkeleyside spoke with four local residents outside the Berkeley Youth Alternatives vote center near Strawberry Creek Park. Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n

Denisia Wash, former elementary school and kindergarten teacher <\/p>\n

\"\"Denisia Wash and her dog, Tucker, outside the vote center near Strawberry Creek Park on Thursday. Credit: Hope Mu\u00f1oz\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

Why did you vote for Xavier Becerra for governor?\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was a teacher, so both of my unions backed Steyer. I was going to, but then in my gut I was like, \u201cYou know what? I just want to do the tried and true.\u201d I think he\u2019s earned the right.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why did you vote for Ursula Jones Dickson for district attorney?<\/p>\n

I read her bio, and I just liked it. I was going to do Pamela Price, but I don\u2019t know why she was recalled. And I\u2019m not saying that that\u2019s why, but I think Dickson has been doing fine.<\/p>\n

How do you feel about voting?<\/p>\n

Everyone needs to vote. I really feel good when I do it. I think as an educator, going through teaching and everything, you\u2019re trying to fortify kids into having a say. Building their confidence, and one of the ways of having a say when you\u2019re frustrated is to vote.<\/p>\n

Garrick Smalley, stained glass artist<\/p>\n

\"\"Garrick Smalley, a stained glass artist. Credit: Hope Mu\u00f1oz\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

Why did you vote for Katie Porter for governor?\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen her hold people to account. And I\u2019m really hoping she will do that with the current makeup that is in the California [Legislature]. Because there\u2019s a few people in there that are just spending money they don\u2019t need to spend.<\/p>\n

Generally, I don\u2019t try to pick who I think will win. I try to pick who I prefer\u2026If I know anything about the person and they\u2019re an incumbent, then the next person I choose, if I don\u2019t like what they\u2019ve done, is a third party like Green or Peace and Freedom or something like that.<\/p>\n

How do you feel about voting?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Happy, very much so. I do know that I\u2019m the only one in my family who voted for Katie. It feels a little strange.<\/p>\n

Kevin Moseby, sociologist<\/p>\n

\"\"Kevin Moseby, a sociologist, after casting his vote on Tuesday. Credit: Hope Mu\u00f1oz \/ Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

Why did you vote for Katie Porter for governor?\u00a0<\/p>\n

I feel like she has had a career of doing good work that was about helping those who are screwed over by housing, policy, insurance, things like that.\u00a0 She speaks very well. Her research, her life, and her experiences, I feel like they have prepared her to do a good job. I like her progressive stances on issues like free education, free community college, or her plan to make the state have its own one-party health insurance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think a lot of the most progressive candidates are all similar in terms of their policy, but I think I trust her more to do the work to get it done. Just who I am as a person, I do not trust male ambition. I\u2019m just frustrated. There are [always] all these reasons not to vote for the women, no matter how great they would be at the job or their experience in the world. I feel like we often are just geared away from them, even though they could be the most qualified person in the field.<\/p>\n

Why did you vote for Pamela Price for district attorney?\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think this new person who was appointed is more the hardline traditional prosecutor, which, for generations, the Democrats were tough on crime because that\u2019s how they could get votes away from the Republicans, who were the tough-on-crime people. But tough-on-crime has met the growth of mass incarceration and the continuing criminalization of poverty, racialized poverty. I think Price has her life experience and the work she\u2019s done.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shannon Allen, National Environmental Policy Act compliance manager<\/p>\n

\"\"Shannon Allen after voting. Credit: Hope Mu\u00f1oz\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

Why did you vote for Katie Porter for governor?<\/p>\n

I think she\u2019s got a great qualification, great energy. But I do worry that I\u2019m kind of throwing my vote away. I think she\u2019s less likely to get it, but I\u2019m still voting. I am voting by conscience.<\/p>\n

How do you feel about voting?<\/p>\n

I feel like voting is very important and it is certainly my civic duty, but I feel exhausted by what\u2019s going on in the world and by the headlines.<\/p>\n

How do you decide who to vote for?<\/p>\n

For the governor\u2019s race, there\u2019s a lot of information out there for the top five Democrats. I used the Ezra Klein housing interview<\/a>, and then there were interviews from NPR that I found really useful for the other races. For races like the judges\u2019 race, I rely on friends who work in that field.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Voters can drop off their ballots at drop boxes<\/a> stationed across Alameda County or cast a ballot in person at a vote center<\/a> until 8 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed reporting.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRelated stories<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Election\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tElection results: Alameda County district attorney, California governor and more<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tJune 2, 2026June 3, 2026, 4:45 p.m.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"What\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat Berkeley voters should know about the June 2 primary election<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tMay 29, 2026May 29, 2026, 3:44 p.m.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"What\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat to know about the candidates running for California governor<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tMay 28, 2026May 29, 2026, 8:10 p.m.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

“*” indicates required fields<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Outside the Berkeley Youth Alternatives vote center near Strawberry Creek Park Tuesday morning. Credit: Hope Mu\u00f1oz\/Berkeleyside Berkeley voters…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[35072,2466,143,145,144,13],"class_list":["post-346810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-election-2026","tag-home-lead","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}