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London Breed
London Breed was the Mayor of San Francisco in California. She assumed office on July 11, 2018. She left office on January 8, 2025.
Breed ran for re-election for Mayor of San Francisco in California. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Breed earned a B.A. in political science-public service with a minor in African American studies from the University of California, Davis, and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of San Francisco.[1] Before her election to city government, Breed was the executive director of the African American Art & Culture Complex, a commissioner on the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, and a San Francisco Fire commissioner.[1]
Breed was first elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2012. She was elected by her fellow supervisors as president of the board in January 2015. She was re-elected to the board in 2016 and re-elected unanimously as president in January 2017.[1]
Breed became acting mayor on December 12, 2017, following the death of Mayor Ed Lee. She was the city's first Black female mayor. On January 23, 2018, the Board of Supervisors voted to replace her with District 2 Supervisor Mark Farrell, citing the desire for an interim mayor who was not also running for the office.[2] Breed then won the June 5, 2018, special election for the position and assumed office on July 11, 2018. She won re-election on November 5, 2019 with 71% of the vote.[3]
Breed lost re-election in 2024 to Daniel Lurie. After 15 rounds of ranked-choice voting tabulation, Lurie received 55% of the vote and Breed received 45% of the vote. Breed became the first San Francisco mayor to lose a re-election bid since Frank Jordan in 1995. Politico's Dustin Gardiner wrote in the aftermath of Breed's loss that "[h]er ouster speaks to the difficulty mayors face amid a widespread sense of lawlessness in downtown centers — despite falling crime and overdose statistics."[4]
Breed said that experiences working at age 14 for then-Mayor Willie Brown's youth employment and training program helped her understand the impact local government could make: "There was a stoplight at a location in my neighborhood where traffic would just fly through, we would take our life in our hands just crossing the street. And to make something happen like that as an intern, to get a stoplight at this intersection, that was amazing. To get a sidewalk that everyone would trip over, to get that fixed… I said there’s a lot of power here you can get things done."[5]
Although city elections in San Francisco are nonpartisan, Breed is known to be affiliated with the Democratic Party.[6] Media outlets consider her a member of the moderate wing of the Democratic Party.[7][8] Breed served on the San Francisco Democratic Party County Central Committee while she served on the board of supervisors.[9]
Biography
London Breed obtained a B.A. in political science-public service with a minor in African American studies from the University of California, Davis, and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of San Francisco.[1]
Prior to serving on the board of supervisors, Breed was the executive director of the African American Art & Culture Complex. She also served as a San Francisco Redevelopment Agency commissioner and as a San Francisco Fire commissioner.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Mayoral election in San Francisco, California (2024)
General election
General election for Mayor of San Francisco
The ranked-choice voting election was won by Daniel Lurie in round 14 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.
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Total votes: 390,184 |
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
Endorsements
Breed received the following endorsements.
2019
See also: Mayoral election in San Francisco, California (2019)
General election
General election for Mayor of San Francisco
The ranked-choice voting election was won by London Breed in round 1 .
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Total votes: 177,192 |
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
2018
The following candidates ran in the San Francisco mayoral special election.[10]
| San Francisco mayor, Special Election, 2018 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 London Breed |
36.60% | 89,580 |
| Mark Leno | 24.61% | 60,229 |
| Jane Kim | 24.03% | 58,808 |
| Angela Alioto | 6.97% | 17,060 |
| Ellen Lee Zhou | 3.81% | 9,332 |
| Richie Greenberg | 2.82% | 6,903 |
| Amy Farah Weiss | 0.66% | 1,620 |
| Michelle Bravo | 0.35% | 849 |
| Write-in votes | 0.16% | 385 |
| Total Votes | 244,766 | |
| Source: San Francisco Department of ElectionsThese election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||
2016
The city of San Francisco, California, held elections for six of the 11 seats on its board of supervisors on November 8, 2016. The city utilized instant-runoff voting (IRV) for municipal offices, eliminating the need for runoff elections.[11] Incumbent London Breed defeated Dean Preston in the general election for District 5 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.[12]
| San Francisco Board of Supervisors District 5, General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| London Breed Incumbent |
52.95% | 13,235 |
| Dean Preston | 46.18% | 11,542 |
| Write-in votes | 0.87% | 218 |
| Total Votes | 24,995 | |
| Source: San Francisco Department of Elections, "November 8, 2016 Official Election Results," December 6, 2016 | ||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
London Breed did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign ads
| September 18, 2024 |
| September 18, 2024 |
View more ads here:
2019
London Breed did not complete Ballotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.
2018
Breed's 2018 campaign website stated the following:[13]
| “ | Making a Safer San Francisco
The public safety challenges facing our city are personal for me — I have lived many of them. I grew up in a San Francisco very different from what many have experienced: a place called Plaza East, notoriously one of the most dangerous public housing developments in the City. I know what it’s like to grow up in a community ravaged by drugs and violence, held down by unemployment, and held back by neglect. I’ve lost friends; I’ve lost family to gunfire, drugs, and despair. I remember trying to do homework or fill out college applications while people were fighting or even shooting just outside our window. Now, years later, and living only a few blocks away, I know what it’s like to have your car window broken not once, but repeatedly, even when you had nothing inside to steal. I see the shards of glass on our streets every day, shining with a subtle, unacceptable reminder: “This crime is everywhere.” We cannot let that continue. After more than 20 years of decreasing crime rates, we are seeing troubling new spikes in property crimes (particularly car break-ins), unsafe street behavior and, in some neighborhoods, even violent crimes. In the Castro, around the Panhandle, South of Market, Lower Pacific Heights, and on the West Side of the City, crime is in many ways getting worse. And street behavior, whether downtown or in any of our neighborhoods, is often out of control. San Francisco needs a Mayor who will make all our neighborhoods safe, a Mayor with a record of standing up for public safety and fighting for the resources we need. I am that Mayor. An Affordable City for ALL of Us I grew up in Plaza East public housing in the Western Addition. Housing insecurity isn’t just an abstract point of policy for me. I’ve lived it. When I was in college, we were told our home was being torn down. It was up to me and my grandmother, the woman who cared for me all my life and now needed to be cared for, to find a new place to live. I have seen generations of my family, friends, and classmates leave San Francisco. Today, my housing situation is like many living in San Francisco. My home is a rent-controlled apartment in the Lower Haight. Until two months ago I still had a roommate. I’m still paying off my student loans. I drive a sixteen-year-old car and bring coupons to the store. San Francisco is experiencing an affordability crisis, and I’m right there with you. The post-recession boom created tens of thousands of jobs in a city that was already feeling the squeeze of high housing prices and a chronic housing shortage. Unfortunately, most of us still cannot afford San Francisco’s market rate prices. We aren’t producing enough affordable housing to meet the needs of our low-income population. People who earn middle-class incomes — teachers, nurses, non-profit workers, police officers — make too much to qualify for affordable housing, but not enough to afford market prices without a second job. The result is rising income inequality and the out-migration of many communities of color from San Francisco. This crisis has dramatically weakened the most essential structures of support in our community. Young people who are already burdened with unprecedented student debt now live with two … four … even six or more roommates in order to afford rent. Friends I grew up with have been evicted and forced to leave their hometown. Major demographic changes are happening in our neighborhoods. Homeless residents of San Francisco endure packed shelters with little hope of permanent supportive housing. Those of us working to build housing are met with high land and construction costs and layers of public process which delay getting shovels in the ground. We’re in a housing crisis and we need to address it — this is a problem we CAN and WILL solve.[14] |
” |
2016
Breed's 2016 campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Protecting Renters and Creating More Affordable Housing
Making Our Neighborhoods Safer
Protecting Our Environmental Health |
” |
Notable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.
Noteworthy events
Fined for ethics violations (2021)
On August 2, 2021, Breed agreed to pay $22,792 in fines for ethics violations that occurred while she was in office. The ethics violations included failure to disclose campaign finance contributions over the contribution limit, failure to disclose financial assistance from a subordinate whom she dated, and advocation in the form of a letter to Governor Jerry Brown (D) on behalf of her imprisoned brother.[16]
Breed, in a statment to the San Francisco Chronical said, "While nothing stipulated here had any effect on my decision-making as mayor, it is important that as mayor that I lead by example and take responsibility for my actions. I’ve learned a lot over the last two years since the most recent of these events took place, and I’ve learned from this process.”[17]
Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
Breed was mayor of San Francisco during the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, when events and activity took place in cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Events in San Francisco, California, began on Friday, May 29, 2020.[18] On May 31, Mayor London Breed (D) instituted a curfew.[19] The national guard was not deployed.
| To read more about the death of George Floyd and subsequent events, click [show] to the right. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
Breed said of the protests, "When it crosses the line, we have a responsibility to protect our city. And we will do what we need to do to do that. ... To be clear, this is the last thing I want to do as mayor. I want peace. I want protests, but I don’t want the kind of violence and crime we see playing out across the streets of our city to continue."[26]
In an interview published on June 11, Breed said of policing in San Francisco, "The work that we did to get rid of the chokehold, people are just now having this conversation. ... When you draw your gun, automatic report. When you think about just even a couple years ago, there were seven officer-involved shootings in San Francisco. And over the past two years, only three and none resulted in deaths because of the work we did, the fighting with the Police Officers Association to get changes to policies." She continued regarding calls to defund the police, "I think it's understandable that people are feeling that way, but the fact is you have people who kill people, you have people who rob people and commit really horrible acts. And in those particular cases, there is a very strong need for law enforcement. And the question is: what kind of law enforcement do we produce out of San Francisco?"[27]
On June 11, Breed announced a plan for additional policing changes. The plan included the following four priorities:[28]
- ending the use of police in response to non-criminal activity
- addressing police bias and strengthening accountability
- demilitarizing the police
- promoting economic justice
COVID-19 response
On February 25, 2020, Breed declared a local emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She stated, "Although there are still zero confirmed cases in San Francisco residents, the global picture is changing rapidly, and we need to step-up preparedness. ... We see the virus spreading in new parts of the world every day, and we are taking the necessary steps to protect San Franciscans from harm."[29]
On March 16, Breed announced a city-issued public health order requiring residents to stay at home except to meet basic needs. She said, "This is going to be a defining moment for our city. ... We all have a responsibility to do our part to protect our neighbors and slow the spread of this virus by staying at home unless it is absolutely essential to go outside."[30]
On May 28, Breed released a phased reopening plan. She said, "For the next 12 and 18 months, we are going to go back to the life we knew before, but with some adjustments to our new normal as a result of COVID."[31]
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 City and County of San Francisco, "Former Supervisor London Breed - District 5," accessed November 19, 2024 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "formersupervisor" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "formersupervisor" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "formersupervisor" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Supervisor Mark Farrell named interim San Francisco mayor," January 24, 2018
- ↑ London Breed 2019 campaign website, accessed June 17, 2020
- ↑ Politico, "Anger over ‘street chaos’ fuels ouster of another blue-city mayor," November 9, 2024
- ↑ KRON, "SF Mayor London Breed reflects on her path to politics," February 9, 2023
- ↑ 48hills, "A New Democratic Party Majority in SF Shifts Left," August 17, 2016
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "‘I am the change.’ London Breed says she’s still what San Francisco needs," October 24, 2024
- ↑ The San Francisco Standard, "San Francisco mayor’s race is getting ugly as fight for endorsements heats up," May 14, 2024
- ↑ San Francisco Department of Elections, "June 7, 2016 Official Election Results," accessed November 1, 2016
- ↑ San Francisco Department of Elections, "June 5, 2018 Election Results - Summary," accessed June 13, 2018
- ↑ City and County of San Francisco, "Past Election Results," accessed September 15, 2021
- ↑ San Francisco Department of Elections, "November 8, 2016 Election Information for Campaigns and Candidates," accessed June 17, 2016
- ↑ London Breed 2018 campaign website, "Platforms," accessed February 27, 2018
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Re-Elect Our Supervisor London Breed, "Issues," accessed November 1, 2016
- ↑ City & County of San Francisco Ethics Commission, "Ethics Commission Fines Mayor London Breed $22,792 for Violating Campaign Finance, Ethics, and Gift Laws," accessed April 9, 2022
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "San Francisco Mayor Breed fined: Her three ethics violations, explained," accessed April 9, 2022
- ↑ KTVU, "Death of George Floyd sparks Bay Area protests," May 30, 2020
- ↑ NBC Bay Area, "San Francisco Enacts Curfew, Requests Aid From Outside Agencies," June 1, 2020
- ↑ Washington Post, "The death of George Floyd: What video and other records show about his final minutes," May 30, 2020
- ↑ The New York Times, "8 Minutes and 46 Seconds: How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody," May 31, 2020
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 USA Today, "Medical examiner and family-commissioned autopsy agree: George Floyd's death was a homicide," June 1, 2020
- ↑ Associated Press, "Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death," April 20, 2021
- ↑ CNN, "Protests across America after George Floyd's death," accessed June 2, 2020
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedchi1 - ↑ CBS SF Bay Area, "San Francisco George Floyd Protest Turns Violent; Mayor Breed Announces Curfew," May 30, 2020
- ↑ KQED, "London Breed on Racism: 'I Have Lived This My Whole Life,'" June 11, 2020
- ↑ City and County of San Francisco, "Mayor London Breed Announces Roadmap for New Police Reforms," June 11, 2020
- ↑ NBC Bay Area, "SF Mayor London Breed Declares Local Emergency Amid Coronavirus Outbreak," February 25, 2020
- ↑ San Francisco Examiner, "In ‘defining moment,’ San Francisco to order residents to stay home over coronavirus," March 16, 2020
- ↑ Mercury News, "Coronavirus: San Francisco mayor releases plan for phased reopening of city," May 28, 2020
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Mayor of San Francisco 2018-2025 |
Succeeded by Daniel Lurie |
| Preceded by - |
San Francisco Board of Supervisors District 5 2013-2018 |
Succeeded by - |
| |||||||||
 |
State of California Sacramento (capital) |
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