SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Incumbent San Francisco Mayor London Breed has conceded the race to be re-elected San Francisco mayor after nonprofit executive Daniel Lurie expanded his lead in the race Thursday afternoon. Lurie emerged as the race leader on election night with 28% of the vote, compared to Breed’s 25%.
As of Thursday, Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who was running in third place, has been eliminated from the race through the city’s ranked-choice voting system. Former interim mayor Mark Farrell was in fourth place and was also eliminated, having already conceded the race on election night.
Lurie expanded his lead Thursday afternoon as the Department of Elections released its first updated vote count since Tuesday. Lurie, is the founder of the anti-poverty nonprofit Tipping Point, now commands 56% of the vote to Breed’s 44%.
On Thursday, Breed released a statement acknowledging that the gap was all-but-insurmountable.
“Being Mayor of San Francisco has been the greatest honor of my lifetime,” said Breed. “I’m beyond grateful to our residents for the opportunity to serve the City that raised me. When I first took office in the middle of the night, back in 2017 when Mayor Ed Lee passed, I didn’t know what lay ahead. But I answered the call and always gave San Francisco and its people my heart and soul.”
“Today, I called Daniel Lurie and congratulated him on his victory in this election,” she added.
Lurie, a 47-year-old nonprofit exec., is also heir to the Levi’s Strauss fortune. San Francisco mayor will be his first job as an elected public official.
The Democrat told KRON4 that City Hall is a “broken system” and the incumbent leaders have allowed these problems to fester. Lurie added he is the right fit as someone new to change that system.
Heading into Tuesday’s election, Lurie was endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle. In a KRON4 conducted poll released in September, Lurie placed third with 17.5% of voters choosing him as their first choice.
Lurie was born and raised in San Francisco and graduated from University High School. He and his wife, Becca, are currently raising two children in the city.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
