Rigel Robinson is an American politician who served as a
Berkeley city councilmember from 2018 to 2024. When elected, Robinson became the youngest city councilmember in Berkeley's history.[1] Robinson was a candidate for Berkeley
mayor in the 2024 election before suspending his campaign.[2]
Robinson was elected to the Berkeley City Council in 2018 at age 22, becoming the youngest councilmember in the city's history.[6] Robinson represented District 7, which encompasses
UC Berkeley,
Telegraph Avenue, and surrounding neighborhoods.[7]
On the Berkeley City Council, Robinson was a vocal advocate for
increased housing production. Robinson led the city council in committing to end
single-family zoning,[8] which was originated in Berkeley, and was an outspoken supporter of
UC Berkeley's proposed student housing and permanent supportive housing project at
People's Park.[9] Robinson led the upzoning of his own city council district, which was approved in 2023, to dramatically accelerate construction of new housing in the neighborhoods around UC Berkeley.[10][11][12]
Robinson was a supporter of public transit and active transportation projects and represented the City of Berkeley on the Alameda County Transportation Commission.[13] Robinson led calls for the construction of a new car-free public plaza on
Telegraph Avenue,[14] was a consistent supporter of new
bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements,[15] and secured funding for the design of the planned Berkeley
ferry terminal.[16]
In 2019, Robinson attracted national attention when he rejected an invitation to appear on
Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News. In an email exchange with Tucker Carlson's booker, Robinson referred to the talk show host as a "white supremacist goblin."[17][18]
During the
2020 George Floyd protests, the City of Berkeley attracted national attention in response to Robinson's proposal to develop alternative response models to respond to low-level traffic violations.[19][20][21][22][23]
Robinson was re-elected in 2022 without opposition.[24]
In 2023, Robinson announced his candidacy for mayor of Berkeley to succeed
Jesse Arreguin, and was considered a front-runner in the race.[25][26]
In January 2024, shortly after UC Berkeley closed
People's Park in anticipation of the construction of student housing and permanent supportive housing at the site,[27] Robinson announced his decision to step down from the city council and suspend his mayoral campaign, citing harassment, stalking, and threats from opponents of the proposed project.[28][29][30][31][32]