SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco’s first Black female mayor, London Breed, conceded the race for mayor to Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie on Thursday, pledging a smooth transition as he takes over the job.
The Associated Press has not yet declared a winner because tens of thousand of ballots have not yet been counted and added to the ranked choice voting calculations.
Breed, who was raised by her grandmother in public housing, could not overcome deep voter discontent and was trailing Lurie, a philanthropist and anti-poverty nonprofit founder.
“At the end of the day, this job is bigger than any one person and what matters is that we keep moving 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 and homeless tents much harder to find in recent months, Breed’s fellow Democratic challengers on the campaign trail repeatedly hammered her administration for doing too little, too late as homeless tent encampments, open-air drug use and brazen retail theft proliferated during her six years in office.
She faced four big-name challengers, including two San Francisco supervisors and a former interim mayor.
But voters flocked to Lurie, 47, a city native from a storied family who pledged to bring accountability and public service back 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’m deeply grateful to my incredible family, campaign team and every San Franciscan who voted for accountability, service, and change,” Lurie said in a statement. “No matter 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-time bid for mayor, which drew criticism from Breed and other opponents. But he said that as a political outsider, he needed to introduce himself to voters and in the end, some voters said they liked that Lurie’s financial wealth shielded him from being beholden to special interests.
Lurie is an heir to the Levi Strauss & Co. fortune through his mother, Mimi Haas, who wed Peter Haas when Daniel was a child. Peter Haas, a great-grandnephew of Levi Strauss, was a longtime CEO of the iconic clothing company who died in 2005.
Both the Levi’s name and Haas family philanthropic foundations are deeply embedded 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 as mayor in June 2018 to serve out the remainder of Mayor Ed Lee’s term.
She was reelected in 2019 to a full term that has lasted five years instead of the typical four, after voters changed the election calendar to line up with presidential contests.
Mayor London Breed speaks during an election night watch party at Little Skillet in San Francisco on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Before drafting Jayden Daniels and turning the keys to the Washington Commanders to him as their franchise quarterback, first-year general manager Adam Peters made clear in free agency this was not a long-term rebuild.
In came Bobby Wagner, Zach Ertz, Frankie Luvu, Jeremy Chinn, Dante Fowler, Austin Ekeler and several other veterans with decades of combined NFL experience. When a losing streak threatened to derail the season, Wagner spoke up in the locker room before practice last week to deliver a message about getting back to enjoying football.
“We just needed to have fun,” Wagner said. “As the expectations started to grow, we needed to get back to just having fun. That’s why we were playing so well.”
He and his teammates responded by routing Tennessee to end the skid at three and go into the bye week 8-5 and on track to make the playoffs.
New coach Dan Quinn calls the current state “base camp” with more of the mountain left to climb, and his team has doubled the win total from last season and gotten to this point thanks to Wagner, Ertz, Luvu, Chinn, Fowler, Ekeler and others forming a competitive identity that has turned things around in Washington.
“Those are what I would consider the lead sled dogs,” Quinn said Monday. “And when it comes time and you get into December and January football, you lean on players like that.”
The Commanders will continue to lean on them in the closing stretch with games at New Orleans on Dec. 15, at home against Philadelphia on Dec. 22 and Atlanta on Dec. 28 or 29 and then the season finale at Dallas on Jan. 4 or 5.
They've already been playing a big role on and off the field to get to this point. Wagner, Chinn and Luvu are the top three tacklers on the roster, Fowler leads the team with 8 1/2 sacks and Ertz is second in yards receiving and touchdown catches.
That would have mattered so little if the losing streak stretched to four and playoff hopes that looked solid in early November were fading. Except for Ekeler, on injured reserve because of a concussion, every other experienced newcomer played a key role in beating the Titans and getting a much-needed win.
“It’s really just to steady the ship, honestly,” said Ertz, whose TD pass from Daniels was his fourth of the season. “I’ve played in this league a long time, and three games don’t define you as a football team by any means. It’s really just making sure guys don’t overreact. Guys didn’t need to do anything they weren’t capable of doing. It really was to play within yourself, trust each other and believe in one another.”
The Commanders have drastically improved on defense from 2023, when they ranked last in the league, and even from the start of the season. That is not a huge surprise given the six new starters at 11 spots.
Wagner, a six-time All-Pro linebacker, leading the way at age 34 has been a major factor. His success has come in concert with Luvu, who has stood out as one of the best players on the field in recent weeks.
"I knew what the ballplayer would bring: blitzing, pass rushing, and that was on tape — I’d seen that," Quinn said of Luvu. “What I didn’t know was the energy and love he brought as a teammate. And so that has been almost as impactful, about the way that he cares for one another, the way he looks after his teammates, the way he goes so hard. They see that in him.”
That was the goal way back in the spring, when the external expectations were very low. Even before Week 1, BetMGM Sportsbook set the Commanders' over/under win total at 6 1/2, which is long back in the rearview mirror thanks to veteran leadership keeping things from snowballing out of control.
One more victory would clinch Washington's first winning season since 2016, and well within reach is just the organization's sixth playoff appearance this century. All that is left is to finish the job.
“There’s still a lot of things we can fix, but winning is always better than losing,” Wagner said. “I think it will be fun these last four games.”
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Tennessee Titans wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (15) catches a touchdown pass in the end zone against the Washington Commanders safety Jeremy Chinn (11) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)
Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz, left, celebrates his touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)
Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler rushes for a 1-yard rushing touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis, left, recovers a fumbled snap as he is tackled by Washington Commanders linebacker Dante Fowler Jr. (6) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Tennessee Titans offensive tackle JC Latham (55) is tackled after catching a tipped pass by Washington Commanders safety Jeremy Chinn (11), defensive tackle Jer'Zhan Newton (95) and linebacker Frankie Luvu (4) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)
Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz (86) celebrates the team's 42-19 win against the Tennessee Titans in an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Washington Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner (54) and Washington Commanders defensive end Dorance Armstrong (92) celebrate after a sack during an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Nov. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia, PA. (AP Photo/Peter Joneleit)
