SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR-ELECT Daniel Lurie celebrated his victory on Friday in a speech and news conference in Chinatown, a day after incumbent London Breed conceded.
Lurie thanked his family and supporters and promised to build a “world class administration.” “We have to take care of our teachers, our police, our firefighters and our nurses,” he said to a crowd of between 100-200 people under a clear, sunny sky at St. Mary’s Square. “We have to support neighborhood small businesses, attract business back downtown and foster a home for arts and culture.”
He said he would declare a fentanyl state of emergency on his first day in office, without offering further details about what that would entail. He also said he would be meeting one-on-one with every department head in coming months to discuss who would remain in their positions once a transition takes place, and emphasized that Breed is still the mayor until January.
There are still outstanding votes to count, but Lurie’s win became apparent after unofficial results showed him with a lead of 119,440 votes to Breed’s 93,079 (56.2% to 43.8%) as of Thursday night after ranked-choice results eliminated other candidates and shifted votes to voters’ next highest preference. It took 14 rounds of elimination for Lurie to secure victory, which is won after a candidate passes the 50% mark.
Lurie said Breed called him on Thursday afternoon in a “gracious” concession call, and thanked her for her service to the city, saying he had no doubt about how much she cared about San Francisco.
First non-incumbent elected mayor since 1991
It is the first time since 1991 that an incumbent mayor has been unseated.
Lurie is an heir to the Levi Strauss estate, a father of two and a San Francisco native. He founded and served as the CEO of the nonprofit organization Tipping Point Community in 2005 to focus on anti-poverty initiatives such as housing, education and job training.
He credited strong support among the Asian American Pacific Islander community and the city’s westside residents for his win.
The election brought in substantial amounts of money to the mayoral race and for propositions that were on the ballot.
Lurie raised more than $9.6 million, including millions in contributions from himself and his family. He was further boosted by a political action committee that brought in over $6.6 million.
Breed, meanwhile, had the backing of billionaire and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and raised a total of roughly $2.3 million, about half of which was public financing, and received the support of another political action committee that raised about $3.1 million.
Three other candidates raised over $1 million, including Supervisor Ahsha Safai, Board of Supervisors president Aaron Peskin, and former interim mayor and supervisor Mark Farrell.
But despite the large haul, a volunteer for Lurie’s campaign, Stephen Yu, who attended Friday’s victory speech, said money was not the reason Lurie won his support.
“Money is one thing, but people’s support is the most important part,” Yu said. “Money cannot buy anything. Money cannot buy justice. Money cannot buy what is basically right and what’s basically wrong, what’s morally right, what’s morally wrong.”
Yu said many family members had moved out of San Francisco recently and he, too, was thinking of leaving because of the state of the city. Yu said that feeling changed when he met Lurie, and that his message of change and public safety made him feel hopeful.
A sense of optimism
Lurie’s message of getting tough on public safety and revitalizing business in the city was enough to placate even some who supported other candidates, such as Larry Mazzola Jr., president of the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council and a member of United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 38.
San Francisco's call for accountable leadership, service, and change has been heard.
I am both humbled and inspired by the great honor and privilege of serving you—the people of San Francisco—as your next Mayor.
Thank you to everyone who worked tirelessly on this campaign, and… — Daniel Lurie 丹尼爾·羅偉 (@DanielLurie) November 8, 2024
Mazzola’s union supported Farrell and Safai, but he said his reaction to Lurie’s win was “happiness.” He was optimistic about how the new administration would work with local organized labor and implement an agenda of reform.
“He just said to me, ‘we have a lot of work to do.’ And I believe that the city needed a change in a big way from the previous administration, and I think that Daniel has it in him to make some serious changes to get the city in a brighter direction,” Mazzola said.
Mazzola said he hoped the new administration would build more housing and use local labor, attract more business to the city by hosting more conventions, fill up hotels, and get the city off the news and back to the “shining beacon that it used to be.”
Lurie also spoke about Donald Trump’s win in the presidential race, both in his own speech and in response to a reporter’s question. He said that while he had disagreements with Trump, he would not let that get in the way of addressing the problems that the city was facing.
But he also said he would “have the back” of all San Franciscans.
“Under my watch, San Francisco will stand up for the rights of all of our neighbors,” Lurie said. “We will never turn a blind eye to racism, bigotry or anti-Asian hate.”
Lurie will be sworn in as San Francisco’s 46th mayor on Jan. 8.