San Francisco Elects Daniel Lurie as Mayor, Ousts London Breed

San Francisco voters ousted incumbent mayor London Breed and elected challenger Daniel Lurie, as the Bay Area’s rejection of far-left and “progressive” officials and policies continued to become apparent in late vote counting.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported:

Daniel Lurie has been elected mayor of San Francisco, denying London Breed another term after arguing that her flawed leadership caused the city to struggle since the pandemic devastated its downtown and exacerbated the drug crisis, homelessness and public concerns about crime.

The victory in Tuesday’s race capped a stunning and rapid political ascent for Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune who founded a successful charity, Tipping Point Community, about two decades ago, but was not widely known when he began his mayoral bid last September.

Lurie will be the first San Francisco mayor in more than a century to have never served in government before his election. He saw that as a sign of strength as he campaigned on a promise to bring change to City Hall.

Breed was the first black woman to serve in the role. She pushed back against the left occasionally, but went back-and-forth on “defund the police” and seemed incapable of grappling with the city’s crime wave and retail exodus.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed talks during a briefing outside City Hall in San Francisco on Dec. 1, 2021. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will consider Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021, an emergency order to speed up the city’s ability to stem the high number of overdose deaths in the notorious Tenderloin district. The emergency order is part of Mayor Breed's plan to crack down on drug use and drug dealing in the neighborhood. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

San Francisco Mayor London Breed (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

San Francisco has been the slowest of all U.S. cities to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Tight restrictions prompted many to work from home in the suburbs, or to take the opportunity to move out of the expensive city.

The Bay Area itself remains a technology hub, notably in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). But it has become more decentralized since the pandemic, as San Francisco’s many problems have driven tech workers out of town.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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