Democratic moderate candidate Daniel Lurie, a philanthropist and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, was elected mayor of San Francisco, local media projected as the incumbent Mayor London Breed conceded.
According to Reuters, tackling the city’s problems as an outsider was one of Lurie’s main selling points to voters, who opted for a change from experienced politicians, like Breed.
The San Francisco Chronicle and local news station KQED called Lurie the winner among 13 candidates of the city’s ranked-choice mayoral election, making the call before the final count. His main opponent, London Breed, said in a social media post yesterday afternoon that she had called Lurie to congratulate him on his victory.
Amidst the city’s slow economic recovery post-pandemic, Lurie’s election solidified a political turn toward moderate-centrist politics fueled by wealthy donors, many of them tech founders or venture capitalists.
Lurie spent more than $8 million of his own money on the campaign, far more than his opponents. He beat and will replace Breed, the city’s first Black female mayor, who has led the city since 2018.
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