By Nico Savidge : berkeleyside – excerpt

The stunning decision will leave Robinson’s Southside district, which includes People’s Park, without a representative on the City Council until a special election later this year.

Berkeley mayoral candidate and Councilmember Rigel Robinson will resign from office and end his campaign this week, he told Berkeleyside on Tuesday, citing “harassment, stalking and threats” that he says have made continuing his political career untenable.

The resignation will leave Robinson’s Southside district — a dense area near UC Berkeley that was thrust into a national spotlight last week as the university cleared and walled off People’s Park ahead of a planned housing development, which he supported — without a representative on the City Council until a special election to fill the seat later this year.

The move, which Robinson described as a “retirement,” also reshapes the race for Berkeley mayor, and is a stunning turn for a young elected official who seemed to be eyeing an ascent through the ranks of East Bay politics.

Robinson became the youngest council member ever elected in Berkeley when he won the seat representing the student-centric district months after graduating from UC Berkeley in 2018, then cruised to re-election in 2022 without an opponent on the ballot. The mayoral campaign he launched last year counted endorsements from three of his City Council colleagues, along with influential advocacy groups such as the Housing Action Coalition and East Bay YIMBY, and a long list of politicians from around the region and state, including Attorney General Rob Bonta…(more)

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