How not to concede an election loss

So the Berkeley campaigns season is finally behind us. Unfortunately not everyone is accepting defeat gracefully. For instance, Berkelyside reports this news on District 1.

[Alejandro] Soto-Vigil, who is also an aide to Kriss Worthington and a member of the Rent Stabilization Board, took an aggressive tone when he conceded defeat Tuesday night.
“I gotta say I am actually sad for the District 1 residents,” he said. “Looking for the last five and a half years at the City Council composition, looking at the platform of what’s been on the agenda, the voting record, it’s a travesty really.”
Maio said she was “sorry” to hear Soto-Vigil’s remarks.
“It is not usually what we do in a campaign,” she said. “We try to be gracious in a campaign. You honor the democratic process.”

But things got a little nastier in District 8. On his campaign web site, candidate Mike Alvarez Cohen published a concession article (ironically entitled "Perspective") which included this jab at opponent Lori Droste.

A material percentage of D8 voters want more women and/or LGBT elected officials (even if they’re not necessarily the most qualified candidates). I couldn’t appeal to them, but another candidate did.

It's odd that Cohen singles out Droste. Of the two other candidates in the race, Jacquelyn McCormick is a woman, and George Beier is gay.

It's unfortunate that Mike resorts to reducing Droste down to her gender and sexual orientation. Berkeley is a small pond where even the losers in these contests have plenty of opportunity to influence policy, whether by joining our robust commission system, or speaking directly with city council members. I hope that Soto-Vigil and Cohen will remember that, and work to promote their ideas in a productive way. Let's respect the democratic process, as Linda Maio says, and be gracious for the opportunity to run for office in a city with such a fair and functional democracy.