Candidates running for mayor of San Francisco in 2019 will not be running against Ed Lee, as Lee is termed out after this, his second full term. That means a large litter of candidates is likely to pursue the mayorship this time around (including possibly a full third of the current Board of Supervisors), and Matier & Ross report that the “outside businessperson track” candidate may be CEO Daniel Lurie, whose Tipping Point Community nonprofit is trying to raise $100 million to fight homelessness in San Francisco.
"Daniel Lurie, head of the Tipping Point Community charity, was spotted having lunch the other day at AT&T Park’s Gotham Club with Giants President Larry Baer and a mutual friend, Hyatt Hotel heir John Pritzker where they were overheard discussing Lurie’s prospects for a 2019 mayoral run in San Francisco," Matier & Ross write.
Lurie himself did not comment for the Matier & Ross story, but had previously told the mustached newshounds that he wasn’t going to run because has “too much on my plate right now” and “I don’t view myself as a politician.”
It should be noted that Lurie himself did not donate $100 million to fight homelessness but his Tipping Point Community is trying to raise that amount among donors, and at last count they were more than halfway to that goal. The Tipping Point Community is perhaps best known for their Punk’d-style hidden camera videos that showed Nob Hill shoppers how much their groceries would cost if adjusted for a family living below the poverty line,
But before we go lionizing Lurie as a pure-hearted knight in shining armor fighting the good fight against homelessness, realize that Lurie was the chairman of the Super Bowl 50 host committee that saddled a less-than-outstanding deal on the city of San Francisco. Much of Lurie’s wealth comes from an interest in Levi Strauss, as his mother Mimi Haas was the second wife of the late Levi’s CEO and president Peter Haas.
Former press secretary to Mayor Gavin Newsom Nathan Ballard told Matier & Ross that “It’s no secret that people do frequently ask Daniel if he will get involved in politics, because he is so committed to alleviating poverty and he is a charismatic public speaker,” in kind words perhaps meant to get Ballard considered for a role in a potential Lurie campaign or administration.
For those keeping an informal scorecard on likely 2019 mayoral candidates, former state senator and onetime supervisor Mark Leno has already announced he’s running. Other likely candidates include Board of Supervisors President London Breed and District 2 Supervisor Mark Farrell, and you can never count out District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin, though for now he's endorsed Leno and said he won't run. Journalist and Re/code co-founder Kara Swisher has also expressed interest in running for mayor of San Francisco, though has indicated she wouldn’t run until 2023.
Related: ‘Potential Successors To Mayor Ed Lee 'Saddling Up'