San Francisco mayor fights for reelection while Oakland mayor battles recall

SAN FRANCISCO — The first Black woman elected mayor of San Francisco is fighting a self-funded philanthropist for reelection while in nearby Oakland, the first Hmong American mayor of a major city is battling a recall on Wednesday.

It was too early to call either the reelection bid of San Francisco Mayor London Breed or the recall effort of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, which were both fueled by concerns over public safety and homelessness. San Francisco and Alameda counties will not update results until Thursday.

Breed was trailing anti-poverty nonprofit founder and Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie after a pricey campaign in which multiple contenders — all fellow Democrats — accused her of squandering her six years in office while homeless tent encampments, open-air drug use and brazen retail theft proliferated.

“It ain't over till it’s over," Breed said at a Tuesday night election party, noting that she was also initially behind in her first race for mayor in 2018, but eventually won office.

Crime and homelessness also drove frustrated residents of Oakland to collect enough signatures to place the recall of Thao on Tuesday's ballot. They blame Thao, who won office just two years ago, for a long list of city woes. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has sent state highway patrol officers, state prosecutors, and surveillance cameras to help Oakland battle crime.

Thao became the first Hmong American mayor of a major U.S. city after she was elected in November 2022. Oakland has about 400,000 residents and is, at times, more politically liberal than San Francisco. Vice President Kamala Harris, who conceded the presidential race to former President Donald Trump on Wednesday, claims Oakland as her hometown.

Recall proponents say the mayor “created a public safety crisis” in part by firing popular Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong. Her recall was bankrolled largely by investor Philip Dreyfuss, who did not respond to requests seeking comment. The local NAACP supports the recall.

Thao has an FBI investigation hanging over her head after authorities in June raided her home and other properties owned by a politically influential family that controls the city's recycling contract. Thao has maintained her innocence and authorities have not said what they are investigating.

Thao said Tuesday night there were more ballots left to count.

But California voters showed frustration over crime and easily approved Tuesday a proposition that reclassifies some misdemeanor theft and drug crimes as felonies.

San Francisco’s streets have been cleaner and homeless tents much harder to find, but a daytime shooting in September of San Francisco 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall in a popular central shopping district reignited the issue of safety in the city.

Breed, who was raised by her grandmother in San Francisco public housing, says the pandemic challenged the city but her administration laid the groundwork for recovery. In the March primary, she championed a pair of successful public safety ballot measures to expand police powers and compel some people into drug treatment.

San Francisco elects its mayor using a ranked choice voting system that allows voters to list up to 10 candidates in order of preference. Lurie was leading Breed in early returns.

Lurie, who has never held elective office, pledged to bring accountability and public service back to City Hall, and reveled in his role as a political outsider.

“We cannot solve today’s problems with yesterday’s solutions,” he said at his election party.

Lurie pumped nearly $9 million of his own money into his first-time bid for mayor, saying that as a political outsider, he needed to introduce himself to voters. He is an heir to the Levi Strauss & Co. fortune through his mother, Mimi Haas, who wed Peter Haas when Daniel was a child. Peter Haas was a longtime CEO of the iconic clothing company who died in 2005.

Breed raised more than $5 million in her reelection bid, including $1.4 million from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Early results showed San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, the most progressive contender in the race, in third place and Mark Farrell, a venture capitalist and former San Francisco supervisor who was briefly interim mayor, in fourth.

Breed won election as mayor in June 2018 to serve out the remainder of Lee’s term. She was reelected in 2019 to a full term that has lasted five years instead of the typical four, after voters changed the election calendar to line up with presidential contests.