San Francisco just went through a political earthquake. Honestly, if you’ve been watching the city over the last few years, you probably felt the tremors coming. The San Francisco mayoral election results didn't just crown a new leader; they served as a massive, loud "enough is enough" from a frustrated electorate.
Daniel Lurie, a nonprofit founder and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, didn't just win. He fundamentally reshaped the city's political gravity. For the first time in over a century, San Francisco has a mayor who has never held public office. Think about that for a second. In a city famous for its Byzantine bureaucracy and "alphabet soup" of commissions, voters chose the guy who promised to blow the whole thing up from the outside.
The Final Numbers: How Daniel Lurie Won
You've probably heard about the Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) drama. It’s basically the "love it or hate it" feature of SF politics. Because no one hit the 50% mark on the first try, we had to go through 14 grueling rounds of counting before we got a winner.
In the first round, the field was tight. Lurie grabbed about 26.3% of the first-choice votes. Incumbent Mayor London Breed was right on his heels at 24.4%. Aaron Peskin, the progressive standard-bearer, stayed in the hunt with nearly 23%. Mark Farrell, the former interim mayor who ran a "tough on crime" campaign, finished with 18.5%.
But here’s where it got interesting. As the lower-tier candidates were eliminated, their votes started flowing. Most of Mark Farrell's supporters had Lurie as their second choice. When Farrell was knocked out in Round 12, those votes flooded into Lurie's camp.
By the time we hit Round 14, the San Francisco mayoral election results were crystal clear:
- Daniel Lurie: 182,364 votes (55.02%)
- London Breed: 149,113 votes (44.98%)
It wasn't even that close in the end. Breed conceded on Thursday, November 7, 2024, acknowledging that the city was ready for a different direction.
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Why London Breed Lost Her Grip
It’s kinda tragic if you look at it through a historical lens. London Breed was the first Black woman to lead the city, and she steered San Francisco through the absolute nightmare of the COVID-19 pandemic. She was lauded early on for her quick action. But the "doom loop" narrative—the empty office buildings, the visible drug crisis in the Tenderloin, and the retail exodus from Union Square—became a weight she couldn't shake.
Voters were tired. You could see it in the polling long before the election. Her disapproval rating was hovering around 66% in the summer. Even though she tried to pivot toward more aggressive policies on encampments and drug arrests in her final year, many felt it was "too little, too late."
Basically, she became the face of the city’s problems, whether they were her fault or not.
The "Non-Politician" Advantage
Lurie’s campaign was basically a $9 million bet that voters wanted a manager, not a politician. He spent a record-breaking amount of his own money, sure, but he also tapped into a specific kind of San Francisco fatigue.
He talked about "accountability" like a mantra. He promised to audit the city's massive network of nonprofits—the "homelessness industrial complex," as his supporters called it. He spoke about his work with Tipping Point Community, claiming he knew how to move the needle on poverty without the red tape of City Hall.
Key Policy Shifts We're Already Seeing
Lurie didn't waste time after taking office on January 8, 2025. Here is what's actually changed on the ground:
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- Permit Tracking: He launched an online tracker for building permits. It sounds boring, but in SF, getting a permit used to be like trying to solve a Rubik's cube in the dark.
- Public Safety: He’s pushing to hire 425 new officers and dispatchers.
- Office Conversions: He’s trying to make it way easier to turn those empty downtown towers into apartments.
Beyond the Mayor: A Shift in the Board of Supervisors
The San Francisco mayoral election results were only half the story. The Board of Supervisors, which often acts as a check (or a roadblock) for the mayor, also saw some major upsets.
In District 5, which covers the Haight and Western Addition, the moderate Bilal Mahmood managed to unseat Dean Preston. Preston was arguably the most prominent democratic socialist in the city. Losing that seat was a massive blow to the progressive wing.
Meanwhile, in District 3, Danny Sauter took the seat vacated by Aaron Peskin. In District 1, Connie Chan held on by the skin of her teeth after several rounds of RCV, proving that the progressive movement isn't dead—it’s just on the defensive.
A Quick Look at the Supervisors:
- District 1: Connie Chan (Incumbent win)
- District 3: Danny Sauter (New moderate voice)
- District 5: Bilal Mahmood (Defeated incumbent Dean Preston)
- District 7: Myrna Melgar (Incumbent win)
- District 9: Jackie Fielder (New progressive voice)
- District 11: Chyanne Chen (New moderate-leaning voice)
The Ballot Measures That Mattered
San Franciscans love voting on things. This time, they had a mountain of "Props" to climb.
Proposition K was a huge one. It officially closed the Upper Great Highway to cars to create a permanent park. People were obsessed with this. It passed with 54.7% of the vote, despite a loud "No" campaign from Westside residents who hated the traffic detours.
Then there was Proposition M, which passed overwhelmingly. It’s a massive overhaul of how the city taxes businesses. The goal? Make it less punishing for small shops and more predictable for the big tech companies that are currently eyeing the exits.
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One thing that failed was Proposition D, the controversial plan to slash the number of city commissions. It was backed by billionaire-funded groups like GrowSF, but voters found it a bit too extreme. Instead, they passed Proposition E, a milder version of commission reform.
What This Means for Your Daily Life
If you live here or work here, the 2024 San Francisco mayoral election results mean the "honeymoon phase" for Daniel Lurie is officially over. He has the mandate. He has a slightly more cooperative Board of Supervisors. Now he has to actually fix the things he campaigned on.
The city's budget is still a mess. The "Great Highway" park is going to be a construction nightmare before it's a paradise. And the drug crisis isn't going to vanish because a new guy is sitting in the Room 200 office at City Hall.
Actionable Steps for Involved Citizens
If you want to keep the momentum going or hold the new administration accountable, here is what you should actually do:
- Track the Permits: Use the new SF Permit Tracker to see if that "affordable housing" project in your neighborhood is actually moving or just gathering dust.
- Watch the Board: The Board of Supervisors meets every Tuesday at 2 PM. You can watch on SFGovTV. It’s the best way to see who is actually fighting for your district.
- Join a Community Police Advisory Board (CPAB): With the "Rebuilding the Ranks" initiative, neighborhood feedback is becoming a bigger deal. Get in the room where the staffing decisions are discussed.
- Report the Small Stuff: Use the 311 app. Lurie’s administration is hyper-focused on "clean and safe" metrics. If they don't see the data, they won't send the crews.
The 2024 election was a clear signal that San Francisco wants to be a "functioning city" again. Whether Daniel Lurie's brand of "accountability" is the cure or just a high-priced band-aid is the big question for 2026 and beyond.