San Francisco Chronicle endorses Levi's Daniel Lurie for SF mayor

The Bay Area’s largest newspaper has thrown its weight behind San Francisco mayoral challenger Daniel Lurie, philanthropist heir to the Levi Strauss fortune.

The San Francisco Chronicle endorsed Lurie, saying the city “needs change, only one candidate fits,” according to Hearst-owned newspaper, which claims 6 million readers a month.

In supporting Lurie, the Chronicle downplayed the records and policies of other mayoral candidates, including Mayor London Breed, former Supervisor Mark Farrell, Supervisor Ahsha Safaí and Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin.

Both Lurie and Farrell are generally seen as moderates with significant chunks of backing from segments of the business community, Anecdotal indicators point to Farrell as having a base in the commercial real estate sector at this point, although San Francisco’s ranked voting system makes second choices a key factor in the voting.

Its editorial board praised Lurie for employing his family wealth to amass an impressive campaign, while “staying above the fray.” It said the native San Franciscan also offers “a welcome balance of compassion and toughness.”

In his endorsement interview, Lurie was passionate and said the right things on key issues, according to the paper.

He promised to be aggressive on housing and cut red tape on real estate development and small business.

On homelessness, he’d lean into his experience running his anti-poverty nonprofit Tipping Point, and follow San Jose Mayor Matt Mahanby aggressively building interim housing to get people off the streets. In his first six months, he pledged to create 1,500 shelter homes.

And he pledged to roll up his sleeves to stay on top of his department heads over quality-of-life issues.

“I’m going to take the oath of office on January 8, at 12 p.m,” Lurie declared. “If something goes wrong at 2 p.m., I’m going to take accountability right then and there.”

Can Lurie deliver?, the Chronicle asked.

“We’ve had dozens of off-the-record conversations with high-profile people in and out of government, most of whom have assured us he can — that he has the temperament and the connections to succeed,” the editorial board said.

The Chronicle said Mayor Breed deserves credit for steering the city through the pandemic, confronting unrest related to the murder of George Floyd, and advocating for all levels of housing.

But the paper said “the small things suffered under her watch,” including the city’s “empirically filthy streets.” And big things, including “her waffling approach to fentanyl overdoses” and “getting caught flatfooted” on a shift to remote work that led to the collapse of the commercial real estate market in Downtown.

But it was Breed’s “outrageous mismanagement” of her signature Dream Keeper initiative, or $120 million program to revive the city’s Black community, that “solidified” its concerns about four more years under a mayor “whose attention and eye for detail” isn’t what she promised, the Chronicle said.