San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie believes voters delivered a simple but powerful message in this week’s election: stop obsessing over politics and start delivering results.
Just sixteen months into his first term, Lurie is presiding over a city that looks markedly different from the San Francisco that dominated headlines only a few years ago. Once held up by critics as the poster child for urban dysfunction, the city has seen declines in petty crime, reductions in large homeless encampments, and signs of renewed activity in a downtown district that struggled to recover after the pandemic emptied office towers and storefronts.
The shift has been noticeable enough that public sentiment appears to be changing as well.
According to a recent San Francisco Chamber of Commerce poll, 64 percent of residents now believe the city is headed in the right direction. That represents a dramatic turnaround from 2024, when frustration with city leadership was widespread and voter confidence was at one of its lowest points in years.
“I think the mood is one of hope and optimism,” Lurie said during an interview at City Hall.
He argued that voters are increasingly looking for cooperation rather than ideological warfare.
“I think they want the supervisors and the mayor to work together around common-sense solutions to the issues we have,” he said.
That sentiment helps explain the political environment that brought Lurie to office in the first place.
The 48-year-old heir to the Levi Strauss fortune defeated former Mayor London Breed in 2024 after campaigning as a reform-minded outsider determined to challenge the city’s status quo. His victory was part of a broader moderate backlash that emerged after years of public concern over drug use, retail theft, homelessness, and corruption scandals that damaged San Francisco’s reputation both locally and nationally.
That movement received significant support from prominent figures in the technology industry, including Ripple chairman Chris Larsen and venture capitalist Michael Moritz, who backed efforts to move city politics in a more centrist direction.
Since taking office, Lurie has attempted to balance competing priorities. His administration has worked to address the city’s multibillion-dollar budget challenges while approving pay raises for police officers and firefighters. To help offset those costs, City Hall has reduced portions of the city’s extensive nonprofit contracting system, which has historically exceeded $1 billion annually.
While acknowledging that he is still relatively new to the job, Lurie offered a straightforward philosophy for governing.
“That’s the only advice I would share with anybody in any elected position — focus on where you are governing,” he said.
“The people deserve a mayor and a board of supervisors that are focused on getting results and delivering common-sense, reasonable policies.”
Tuesday’s election results appeared to reinforce that approach.
Two moderate supervisors endorsed by Lurie, Stephen Sherrill and Alan Wong, were reelected comfortably. At the same time, voters appeared poised to reject Proposition D, a measure that would impose additional taxes on companies with significant pay gaps between top executives and average workers.
The outcome is particularly notable because San Francisco voters approved a similar tax measure by overwhelming margins just six years ago.
Lurie suggested that voters may be growing tired of recurring political battles between organized labor groups and business interests.
“It’s just not a way to govern a city,” he said.
Although final results had not yet been certified, the mayor argued that residents increasingly want practical solutions rather than ideological fights conducted through ballot initiatives.
Other measures appeared to be faring better. An earthquake safety bond and a proposal establishing lifetime term limits for local elected officials were both leading as of Friday.
