BERKELEY — In a very close election, Adena Ishii won Berkeley’s hotly contested mayoral race.
She is the city’s first Asian American mayor and the first woman of color to hold the office.
On Nov. 20, 15 days after the general election was held, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters released a count of ballots showing that Ishii had won the support of 51.06% (25,131) of Berkeley voters — the percentage of all votes cast that was needed to be declared the winner.
Her closest competitor was Councilmember Sophie Hahn with 24,092 (48.94%). Also running were former Councilmember Kate Harrison, paralegal Logan Bowie and retired assistant administrator Naomi Pete.
Ishii was relatively unknown when she entered the mayoral race almost one year ago. She began her run as the underdog, but after a rigorous campaign with multiple public candidates’ forums and a debate, she defeated two well-known veterans of Berkeley politics to become the city’s top public official.
In her grassroots campaign, supporters put up posters and signs throughout the city, made phone calls, knocked on over 20,000 doors, and helped familiarize Berkeley residents with Ishii’s name, face, and platform.
Ishii has always been active in local civic affairs since she moved to Berkeley 15 years ago, but this was her first run for an elected public office. She graduated from Berkeley City College, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and the Santa Clara University School of Law.
While still a student, she became the youngest president of the League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany, and Emeryville and later was voted in as the vice president of the league’s State Board.
She is co-chair of the Berkeley Unified School District Reparations Task Force, which is crafting recommendations for reparations to students with ancestors enslaved in the U.S.
She served on the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Product Panel of Experts Commission, appointed by former Mayor Tom Bates and current Mayor Jesse Arreguin, where she worked to reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in Berkeley.
Ishii was instrumental in the 2018 passage of Measure O, which is credited for creating an affordable housing boom in Berkeley, and the accompanying Measure P, which funds homeless services.
She served as the human exploitation and trafficking (HEAT) watch coordinator at the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and a law clerk intern in the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.
As an education and nonprofit consultant, Ishii advocates for Berkeley High School and Berkeley City College students to access higher education and supports young adults with career development.
The daughter of Christopher S. Ishii and Carolyn Abe-Ishii, she was born and raised in Los Angeles and graduated from Agoura High School.
Both of her grandfathers were veterans of World War II. Her paternal grandfather, Chris K. Ishii, a member of the Military Intelligence Service, was deployed to the China-Burma-India Theater. Before the war he was an animation artist working at the Walt Disney Studio, and after the war he relocated with his family to New York, where he was a well-known animator and director of award-winning commercials.
Ishii’s maternal grandfather, Dr. Harry F. Abe, fought in Europe and served as a medic in the distinguished 442nd Regimental Combat Team. After the war, he established an active family medical practice, and in his retirement was involved in the early stages of establishing the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles as well as the Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During World War II in Washington, D.C.
Both of Ishii’s parents grew up in New York and eventually relocated to Los Angeles, where they met and worked in the motion picture industry. Her older sister, Erika, is a well-known voice actor and media influencer, and her younger sister lives in the East Bay and works for the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, a nonprofit organization that assists California communities of Asian immigrants and refugees to achieve environmental justice.
Ishii lives in South Berkeley with her husband, daughter, and three dogs named Ichiro, Matsui, and Shohei.