If you haven't been keeping a close eye on the foggy streets of the 7x7 lately, you might still think London Breed is running the show at City Hall. She isn't. As of early 2026, the person sitting in the mayor’s office—officially known as Room 200—is Daniel Lurie.
He’s the 46th mayor of San Francisco.
Honestly, his win was a bit of a shock to the political establishment. Lurie isn't a career politician. He’s never served on the Board of Supervisors or held a seat in the state legislature. Before he took the oath of office on January 8, 2025, he was mostly known as a philanthropist and an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune.
The Daniel Lurie Era: Who’s the Mayor of San Francisco Right Now?
Daniel Lurie won a high-stakes, incredibly expensive election in November 2024. He didn't just beat London Breed; he outlasted a field of seasoned political veterans like Mark Farrell and Aaron Peskin. It was a "change" election. People were frustrated. You could feel it in the air—voters were tired of the open-air drug markets, the retail theft in Union Square, and the general sense that the city’s recovery from the pandemic was stalled.
Lurie campaigned as an outsider. He pitched himself as the guy who could fix the "bureaucratic mess" because he hadn't spent the last decade making it.
The strategy worked.
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He managed to pull together a coalition of Chinese-American voters, moderate homeowners, and even some tech workers who were done with the status quo. By the time the final rounds of San Francisco's ranked-choice voting were tallied, Lurie had secured about 55% of the vote. Breed conceded the race just two days after the election, marking the first time in nearly 30 years that an incumbent mayor in this city was unseated.
What has he actually done so far?
Now that he's a year into the job, we're seeing what "the outsider" approach looks like in practice. It's been a mix of aggressive public safety pushes and some fairly standard moderate Democrat housing policies. One of his biggest moves was the "Heart of the City" plan. He basically threw $60 million into a downtown development fund to try and lure people back into empty office buildings.
He also launched a specific task force to "clean up" the hospitality zones. If you’ve walked through the Financial District or Union Square lately, you might have noticed more patrol officers. That’s intentional. Lurie set a goal to hire 425 new officers and dispatchers within three years. According to city data, crime was down nearly 30% citywide in his first year, though critics will tell you that the "vibe" on the street doesn't always match the statistics.
The Tipping Point Background
Before politics, Lurie founded Tipping Point Community. It’s a massive anti-poverty nonprofit. Under his watch, the organization raised more than $500 million. He used to talk a lot about using "private sector efficiency" to solve public problems like homelessness.
It's kinda funny—some people call him a "nepo baby" because of the Levi Strauss connection (his stepfather was Peter Haas), but he’s spent most of his adult life trying to build his own brand. He often points to his work on the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee as proof he can get big, complicated things done in San Francisco without getting bogged down in committee meetings.
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Not All Smooth Sailing
It hasn't been a perfect honeymoon for the new mayor. If you follow local drama, you probably heard about the Beya Alcaraz situation in late 2025. Lurie appointed her to a vacant seat on the Board of Supervisors after a recall in District 4.
It was a disaster.
Within a week, reports surfaced about her past business management—stuff involving a pet store, tax issues, and some pretty grim health code violations. She resigned after just seven days. It was a huge "rookie mistake" moment for the Lurie administration, showing that his lack of political experience can sometimes lead to a lack of vetting. He eventually replaced her with Alan Wong, but the dent in his "competence" narrative stayed for a bit.
How San Francisco’s Mayor Operates
In San Francisco, the mayor has what we call "strong mayor" powers. Unlike some cities where the mayor is just a figurehead who votes with the council, the SF mayor has a ton of control.
- The Budget: The mayor proposes the city’s roughly $15 billion budget.
- The Veto: They can veto legislation passed by the Board of Supervisors.
- Apppointments: They pick the heads of departments, like the Police Chief and the head of Public Works.
This is why the job is so stressful. When there’s a pothole in the Mission or a tent on a sidewalk in the Tenderloin, people don't usually call their Supervisor. They blame the mayor.
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Lurie is currently dealing with a massive structural deficit. Basically, the city is spending more than it’s bringing in because tax revenue from downtown office buildings has plummeted. He’s trying to bridge that gap by cutting contracts with underperforming nonprofits—a move that hasn't made him many friends in the activist community but has played well with the moderate voters who put him in office.
What’s Next for the City?
If you’re looking at who’s the mayor of San Francisco to understand where the city is heading, keep your eyes on the Vanderbilt University deal. Just recently, Lurie announced that Vanderbilt is opening a campus right in the middle of San Francisco. It’s supposed to bring 1,000 students and faculty to the city by 2027.
This is the "Lurie Vision" in a nutshell: using his connections to bring in outside institutions to fill the holes left by fleeing tech companies.
Key takeaways for San Franciscans right now:
- Public Safety is the Priority: Expect to see more "Hospitality Zone" task forces and a continued push for police recruitment.
- Housing Transparency: There’s a new online permit tracker designed to stop the "backroom deals" that have plagued City Hall for years.
- Accountability for Nonprofits: The mayor's office is currently auditing millions of dollars in city contracts to see who is actually getting people off the streets and who is just "managing" the problem.
If you want to get involved or just see what the mayor is up to today, you can check the official SF.gov Mayor's Office page or even send an email to Daniel Lurie directly at daniel.lurie@sfgov.org. Just don't expect an instant reply—he's currently trying to fix a $15 billion budget and a 30% office vacancy rate.
Check the local Board of Supervisors meeting schedule if you really want to see the friction between the "outsider" mayor and the "insider" legislators; that's where the real power struggles are happening right now.