Political novice Daniel Lurie — an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune and former nonprofit executive — is leading in the race to become San Francisco mayor, besting incumbent London Breed by 56.3% to 43.6% in the 14th round of ranked-choice voting, according to preliminary returns from the San Francisco Department of Elections.
A Lurie victory would represent a political earthquake in the city; the 47-year-old scion of one of the city's most prominent families ran as an outsider after decades of Room 200 at City Hall being occupied by Willie L. Brown Jr. and his allies and protégés.
"Our strongest opposition was not City Hall insiders — it was cynicism itself, that gnawing sense that maybe it has to be this way, that we can't turn this city around with a new approach," Lurie said at his election night party in the Mission neighborhood November 5.
Lurie said that he had 263 meet and greet events with voters, participated in over 150 merchant walks, and knocked on 140,000 doors in the course of the campaign, which he said was "powered by our love for this city that we all call home."
"But hope alone is not enough; strong values are not enough," he continued. "They have to be drivers of actions and results."
Lurie cautioned that "turning around this city is not going to happen overnight."
"We have extremely difficult challenges ahead," he said. "We know this. But here's another truth — our opportunities and advantages are more powerful."
Lurie also won the most first-choices of any candidate counted — 28% compared to 24.5% for Breed. As other candidates were eliminated, the field narrowed to Breed and Lurie.
Breed's campaign didn't return multiple requests for comment by press time November 6; however, the San Francisco Standard reports she said it was "disgusting" that "someone could take their personal wealth and buy this office," referring to Lurie contributing $8 million of his own fortune to his campaign.
Former interim Mayor Mark Farrell sought to return to his old job — he'd held the position briefly in 2018 after the death of mayor Ed Lee. Breed had been acting mayor until she was removed by the Board of Supervisors in the lead up to a June 2018 special election, in which she defeated gay former District 8 supervisor, assemblymember and state senator Mark Leno. Farrell's campaign didn't return a request for comment, but he conceded, according to KRON-TV. Farrell had been dinged with one of the largest ethics fines in the city's history just one day before the election — $108,000 over reimbursements from a committee in support of Proposition D, which would eliminate some city boards and commissions. The ballot measure, whose TV ads in support heavily showcased Farrell, was losing as of Wednesday morning.
Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who ran for mayor as the progressive candidate, has not conceded.
"We're definitely in contention, and our numbers are sure to grow," he told the B.A.R. late November 5. Peskin got 21.5% of first-choice votes thus far compared to 18.3% for Farrell.
District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safaí ran a long-shot campaign with a ranked-choice strategy alongside Farrell (supporters of either were asked to rank both). With the end of his campaign, Safaí, who like Peskin will be departing the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, didn't return a request for comment. He and Peskin are both termed out of office. Safaí got 2.7% of first-choice votes.
The two gay underdog mayoral candidates, Keith Freedman and Jon Soderstrom, fell short as expected. Soderstrom was knocked out in round three and Freedman in round eight after the ranked-choice tabulations.
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