SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco's first Black mayor, London Breed, left the mayoral race to Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie on Thursday, promising a smooth transition if he takes over.
The Associated Press has not yet declared a winner because tens of hundreds of ballots haven’t yet been counted and included within the ranked-choice voting calculation.
Breed, who was raised in public housing by her grandmother, was unable to beat deep voter discontent and fell in need of Lurie, a philanthropist and founding father of an anti-poverty nonprofit.
“At the end of the day, this job is bigger than any one person and what matters is that we continue to move this city forward,” Breed said, adding that she had called Lurie to congratulate him. “I know we are both committed to improving this city we love.”
While San Francisco's streets have been cleaner in recent months and homeless tents have develop into much less common, Breed's Democratic rivals on the campaign trail have repeatedly accused her administration of doing too little, too late, with homeless encampments, open-air drug use and brazen behavior Retail construct up Thefts became more common during her six years in office.
She faced 4 notable challengers, including two San Francisco supervisors and a former interim mayor.
But voters flocked to Lurie, 47, a city resident from a storied family who promised to revive accountability and public service to City Hall. He is the founding father of Tipping Point Community, which says it has invested greater than $400 million in programs to assist individuals with housing, education and early childhood since 2005.
“I am deeply grateful to my incredible family, my campaign team and every San Franciscan who voted for accountability, service and change,” Lurie said in an announcement. “No matter who you supported in this election, we stand united in the fight for the future of San Francisco and a safer, more affordable city for all.”
Lurie invested nearly $9 million of his own money in his first run for mayor, drawing criticism from Breed and other opponents. But he said he needed to introduce himself to voters as a political outsider, and ultimately some voters said they liked that Lurie's financial wealth protected him from being beholden to special interests.
Both the Levi's name and the Haas family's philanthropic foundations are deeply rooted in San Francisco's history and identity.
Lurie's father, Brian Lurie, is a rabbi and longtime former executive director of the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation.
Breed won election for mayor in June 2018 and served the rest of Mayor Ed Lee's term.
She was re-elected to a full term in 2019, lasting five years as a substitute of the standard 4, after voters modified the electoral calendar to align with presidential elections.
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