San Francisco’s first Black female mayor concedes to Levi Strauss heir
SAN FRANCISCO– San Francisco’s first black female mayor, London Breed, relented race for mayor Thursday to Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie, promising a smooth transition if he takes over the job.
The Associated Press has not yet declared a winner because tens of thousands of ballots have not yet been counted and added to the ranked vote calculations.
Breed, who was raised in public housing by her grandmother, could not overcome voters’ deep dissatisfaction and ran behind Lurie, a philanthropist and founder of an anti-poverty nonprofit.
“At the end of the day, this job is bigger than one person and what matters is that we continue to move this city forward,” Breed said, adding that she called Lurie to congratulate him. “I know we are both committed to improving this city we love.”
While the streets of San Francisco have become cleaner and homeless tents are much harder to find In recent months, Breed’s fellow Democratic campaign challengers have repeatedly pressured her administration for doing too little, too late. homeless tent campsoutdoor drug use and brazen shoplifting increased during her six years in office.
She faced four major challengers, including two San Francisco supervisors and a former interim mayor.
But voters flocked to Lurie, 47, a town hailed from a storied family that promised to return accountability and public service to City Hall. He is the founder of Tipping Point Community, which says it has invested more than $400 million since 2005 in programs to help people with housing, education and early childhood.
“I am deeply grateful to my incredible family, my campaign team and every San Franciscan who voted for responsibility, service and change,” Lurie said in a statement. “Regardless of who you supported in this election, we stand united in the fight for San Francisco’s future and a safer and more affordable city for all.”
Lurie pumped nearly $9 million of his own money into his first bid for mayor, drawing criticism from Breed and other opponents. But he said he had to introduce himself to voters as a political outsider, and ultimately some voters said they liked that Lurie’s financial wealth shielded him from special interests.
Lurie is an heir of Levi Strauss & Co. fortune through his mother, Mimi Haas, who married Peter Haas when Daniel was a child. Peter Haas, a great-grandnephew of Levi Strauss, was the longtime CEO of the iconic clothing company who died in 2005.
Both the Levi’s name and the Haas family’s philanthropic foundations are deeply entrenched in San Francisco’s history and identity.
Lurie’s father, Brian Lurie, is a rabbi and former director of the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation.
Breed won the election as mayor in June 2018 to serve out the remainder of Mayor Ed Lee’s term.
That was her re-elected in 2019 to a full term that lasted five years instead of the usual four, after voters adjusted the electoral calendar to the presidential elections.