Daniel Lawrence Lurie[1] (born February 4, 1977) is an American politician and philanthropist who is the 46th and current Mayor of San Francisco, serving since 2025. He was elected in 2024, having defeated incumbent mayor London Breed.[2] He is the founder and former CEO of Tipping Point Community.[3]
Early life
Daniel Lawrence Lurie was born and raised in a Jewish[4] family in San Francisco, the son of Mimi (née Ruchwarger) and Rabbi Brian Lurie.[5][6] His parents divorced when he was two[6] and his mother remarried to Peter E. Haas[5] and his father remarried Caroline Fromm Lurie. Daniel is an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune as Peter is the great-grandnephew of Levi Strauss.[7] Lurie says he grew up "most of the time in [Haas's] house."[4]
Lurie was named by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee to lead the 2016 San Francisco Bay Area Super Bowl Bid Committee; after a successful bid, he was able to ensure that 25% of revenue was designated to local non-profits to help fight poverty.[5] In 2018, Lurie committed to raising $100 million in two years to reduce chronic homelessness in San Francisco by 50%.[11] Tipping Point's Chronic Homelessness Initiative (CHI) was a catalyst for bringing city government and nonprofit service providers together to work in new ways, spurred innovation and legitimized promising new solutions before tax dollars were spent.[12] On November 16, 2019, Lurie stepped down as CEO of Tipping Point Community after 15 years of leading the organization. Lurie remains with Tipping Point as chair of the board.[13]
On September 26, 2023, Lurie launched his candidacy for mayor of San Francisco in the 2024 election, challenging incumbent mayor London Breed.[14] A committee supporting his candidacy received a $1 million donation from his mother Mimi Haas.[15] A report by The San Francisco Standard concluded that this was possibly "the largest contribution to a committee in support or opposition of a candidate in San Francisco history."[16] Other donors included Jan Koum (co-founder of WhatsApp) and the biotech investor Oleg Nodelman, who each contributed $250,000 to the committee, which raised about $3.5 million in total by January 2024.[15][16] On November 5, 2024, Lurie was elected Mayor of San Francisco. Incumbent mayor London Breed, who finished as runner-up, conceded the race on November 7.[17]
Endorsements
Lurie is a moderate Democrat, and was endorsed by some Republican groups,[18][19] such as the San Francisco Briones Society.[19] The co-founder of this group, Jay Donde, said that Lurie was the only candidate who could deny being involved in the politics that led to the mess that the city is currently in.[19] Lurie reacted to this endorsement by stating that he is a lifelong Democrat but welcomes the endorsement because he looks for support from anyone, and his policy views are common sense and not political: improve safety, end homelessness, and crack down on drug problems.[19] Former San Francisco mayor and police chief Frank Jordan endorsed Lurie, saying that their political ideals aligned.[20] For example, Lurie called for a fully staffed police department and sheriff's office during the 2024 election.[20]
The San Francisco Chronicle, with around 6 million readers a month, initially endorsed both Breed and Lurie for Mayor, saying that Breed was the safe choice and Lurie was the candidate for change.[21][22][23] Then, the Chronicle endorsed Lurie due to his balance of compassion and toughness on key policy issues.[21][24][23] Also, it mentioned how Lurie, despite his lack of political experience, can use his connections to surround himself with politically smart people who understand policy.[21][24][22][23]
Campaign
Daniel Lurie was seen as a centrist Democrat.[18][25] Lurie’s moderate views lead him to gain support from the business community.[23] Tech companies were influential in this mayoral race as they spent millions of dollars on candidate’s campaigns for more centrist policies and thus benefited Lurie.[25] Lurie campaigned on tough-on-crime policies.[18] His campaign also criticized City Hall insiders for not building more housing and needing to provide both funding and staff for the police and sheriff departments.[24] Lurie had family wealth, allowing him to contribute more than $8 million to his campaign.[18][26][25][27][21][28] Also, his mother contributed more than $1 million to an independent committee that supported Lurie’s mayoral campaign.[25][27][21][28] Overall, Lurie’s campaign raised more than $16 million.[27]
Lurie self-funding a majority of his campaign caused some people to see him as a political outsider competing against people in City Hall amidst corruption and scandals.[25][28] His campaign played into this view and focused on how he was an outsider with no government experience.[25][27][21][24][28] The campaign centered on Lurie being a political newcomer with a business background, pitching himself as common-sense and accountable.[18][26] Some people argued that Lurie won because of high public support for his policy issues and a lack of government experience,[28] which is historic as Lurie was the first candidate to be elected mayor of San Francisco with no government experience since 1911.[26][21] There was controversy over Lurie’s lack of political experience and self-funding, with opponents critiquing Lurie for spending so much on his campaigns.[26][27] For example, some critics said that Lurie was buying the election and was a trust fund kid relying on family wealth, while others said he was simply campaigning seriously to increase his name recognition.[27][24][28]
Election
First-choice votes for the top five candidates were 26.3% for Daniel Lurie, 24.4% for incumbent Mayor London Breed, 22.9% for Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, 18.5% for former Supervisor Mark Farrell, and 2.9% for Supervisor Ahsha Safai.[25][29][23] Lurie was the only top candidate who was an outsider to politics, never holding a position in local government.[29] San Francisco mayoral elections use a ranked-choice voting system where voters rank candidates based on their order of preference. The election goes on until one candidate has the majority of the votes. This is done by the candidate with the least number of votes being eliminated, and everyone who voted for them their vote is redistributed, but this time it is for their next choice candidate. Lurie led all rounds of ranked choice voting with an ultimate 56% of votes for Lurie and 43% of votes for Breed.[18][25][29][24] There were 14 rounds of counting.[24] It took two days to validate the winner of San Francisco’s ranked-choice voting system.[25]
Expert analysis
San Francisco State University political science professor Jason McDaniel said this election represented change with Lurie, having never held political office but running a well-funded campaign capitalizing on how ranked choice voting works and focusing on how he will do things differently in office.[25][24] Jim Ross, a veteran Bay Area Democratic strategist, said this was a billionaire election with high spending on campaigns.[25]
Mayor of San Francisco
On January 8, 2025, Lurie was sworn in as the 46th mayor of San Francisco.[30][31] His mayoral salary is only $1 USD.[32]
Policy
Daniel Lurie has taken a policy position on housing, crime, and the economy. He has publicly stated that during his term in office, he wants to build more affordable housing and more homeless shelters.[33][34] While working for his non-profit organization they built 145 units of supportive housing for the homeless.[35][36] During his time in office, one of his goals is to create 1,500 beds for those who are struggling on the streets.[37] Additionally, he wants to reduce homelessness by 50%.[37][38] Another goal is to create affordable housing for San Franciscans; he plans to do this by reducing the multifamily house tax that families typically pay because of the transfer tax to new houses.[36] He also stated that he plans to lower the requirements for affordable housing to allow builders to either finish or start new projects.[36] He plans to use the Joint Power Authority to help create bonds to put towards housing so that public workers will be able to afford to live in the city that they work.[36] He states that he will hold the government accountable by creating an approval tracker that will show the entitlements, permits, and contact information to get the building process to move faster.[36]
On policing, Lurie wants the police to patrol the streets more, thus he wants to recruit more officers.[39] He has set a goal of recruiting 425 officers in his first three years as mayor.[39] Thus, he plans on providing more funds to the police department.[39][40] He wants to use the police department to address the drug and mental health crisis that occurs on the streets.[41] He also plans to have a stricter approach to crime.[33] He has also taken a stance on other public issues such as the economy and downtown.[42][better source needed] He also has stated that he wants to increase transparency with the local government and San Franciscans.[33][43] Lurie said that he will eliminate funding to nonprofits that have failed to provide the city with results.[37] He also has taken a stance on education, pledging to pay the public teachers on time and recognize more students for their achievements.[38]
Personal life
In 2006,[3] Lurie married Becca Prowda; they have a son and a daughter.[8] In 2019, his wife was named Director of Protocol by California Governor Gavin Newsom.[44] Lurie practices Transcendental Meditation.[4]
^"Governor Newsom Announces Appointments 6.12.19". Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. June 12, 2019. Becca Prowda, 41, of San Francisco, has been appointed director of protocol in the Office of Governor Newsom. Prowda was director of community affairs at Levi Strauss & Co. from 2009 to 2019. She was deputy director of protocol in the Office of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom from 2008 to 2009, where she also served as confidential assistant to the Mayor from 2004 to 2007. Prowda was events manager at the Robin Hood Foundation from 2000 to 2004. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100,008. Prowda is a Democrat.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Daniel Lurie.
