Anger over ‘street chaos’ fuels ouster of another blue-city mayor
Story by Dustin Gardiner • 20h
SAN FRANCISCO — London Breed is about to join a growing club: Democratic mayors who’ve been ousted by voters fed up with their cities’ post-pandemic struggles.
The incumbent mayor of San Francisco lost Tuesday’s election to Daniel Lurie, a Levi’s heir and nonprofit founder, by more than 12 points. She has led the city for over six years as it battled against surges in deaths from drug overdoses, brazen retail theft, widespread homelessness and a decline in population as newly remote workers fanned out to other parts of the state and country.
The city has started to bounce back from its post-Covid hangover, but it wasn’t enough for voters. Her ouster speaks to the difficulty mayors face amid a widespread sense of lawlessness in downtown centers — despite falling crime and overdose statistics. Last year, former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot finished third place in her reelection fight. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler opted not to run for another term this year.
In Oakland, voters forced Mayor Sheng Thao, another Democrat, out of office after just two years.
“Being the mayor of an urban center after a pandemic has been one of the hardest jobs in America,” said Todd David, a member of Breed’s inner circle of advisers. “Certain races — they are not set up to be won.”
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