San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie believes voters delivered a clear message in this week’s election: they want government focused on solving problems, not scoring ideological points.
Just over a year after taking office, Lurie is pointing to signs of improvement across the city as evidence that voters are rewarding a more pragmatic approach to governing. The mayor, who defeated incumbent London Breed in 2024 on a promise to shake up City Hall, says residents are increasingly optimistic about San Francisco’s future after years of frustration over crime, homelessness, and political dysfunction.
“I think the mood is one of hope and optimism,” Lurie told The New York Post during an interview at City Hall on Friday.
“It’s one where voters want the supervisors and the mayor to work together around common-sense solutions to the issues we have.”
That optimism is reflected in recent polling. According to a San Francisco Chamber of Commerce survey, 64 percent of residents now believe the city is headed in the right direction. For a city that spent years battling headlines about open-air drug markets, retail theft, homeless encampments, and public corruption scandals, the shift represents a dramatic change in public sentiment.
Not long ago, San Francisco had become a favorite target of critics who viewed it as an example of progressive policies gone wrong. Public frustration eventually fueled a political backlash that saw moderate candidates gain ground, aided by significant financial support from prominent figures in the technology industry.
Lurie, a 48-year-old heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, emerged from that environment as a political outsider promising a different approach.
Since taking office, his administration has highlighted declines in petty crime, reductions in large homeless encampments, and signs of renewed activity in the city’s struggling downtown core, which was hit particularly hard by the remote-work trends that followed the COVID-19 pandemic.
The mayor has also attempted to address San Francisco’s budget challenges while maintaining support for public safety services. His administration approved pay raises for police officers and firefighters while trimming portions of the city’s extensive nonprofit contracting system, which has historically accounted for more than $1 billion in annual spending.
Though careful not to portray every challenge as solved, Lurie said one lesson has become increasingly clear.
“That’s the only advice I would share with anybody in any elected position — focus on where you are governing,” he said.
“The city of San Francisco, 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 message.
Two moderate supervisors backed by Lurie, Stephen Sherrill and Alan Wong, secured reelection victories. At the same time, voters appeared poised to reject Proposition D, a measure that would have imposed additional taxes on companies with large pay gaps between top executives and average workers.
The proposal represented a notable test of the city’s political mood. A similar measure passed comfortably six years ago, but preliminary results suggest voters may be less receptive to new business taxes than they were during earlier political cycles.
Lurie argued that voters are increasingly weary of ballot-box battles driven by competing special interests.
“It’s just not a way to govern a city,” he said.
The mayor suggested that residents want elected officials to spend less time fighting ideological wars and more time addressing everyday concerns such as public safety, homelessness, economic recovery, and city services.
Several other ballot measures also appeared headed for approval, including an earthquake safety bond and a proposal imposing lifetime term limits on local elected officials.
For Lurie, the election results offered validation for a governing style centered on pragmatism rather than political labels. While San Francisco remains a deeply Democratic city, the mayor believes voters are increasingly interested in effectiveness over ideology.
Sixteen months into his term, Lurie argues that residents are responding to a simple formula: identify problems, focus on results, and avoid turning every issue into a political battlefield.
Whether that approach continues to resonate as the city confronts long-term challenges remains to be seen. But if this week’s election is any indication, many San Franciscans appear willing to give it a chance.
