Full text of Mayor-Elect Daniel Lurie’s speech in declaring victory at San Francisco Chinatown
Good morning. It’s a beautiful day in San Francisco.
Your voices and your call for accountable leadership, service, and change have been heard.
I stand before you humbled and inspired with the great honor and privilege of serving you -- the people of San Francisco -- as your next Mayor.
Let me first just say thank you. Thank you to everyone who is here, thank you to everyone who worked tirelessly on this campaign, and thank you to my wife Becca, our children Taya and Sawyer, and my entire family for their support.
And I want to thank you, the people of San Francisco.
Yesterday, I received a gracious call from Mayor London Breed. She offered her assistance during this transition, and we are both committed to working together to prepare for the hard work ahead.
Her love for this city has always been clear, and I want to thank her for her service.
No matter who you supported in this election, we stand united in the fight for San Francisco’s future and a safer, more affordable city for all.
I entered this race not as a politician, but as a dad, who couldn’t explain to my kids what they were seeing on our streets.
In our house, when you love something as much as we love San Francisco, you fight for it. We knew it wouldn’t be easy.
Our biggest opposition was cynicism itself. A gnawing sense that maybe it has to be this way.
But, I can tell you after more than 250 meet and greets, nearly 150 merchant walks, knocking on over 140,000 doors, and thousands of open and honest conversations in every neighborhood across seven square miles -- HOPE is alive and well in San Francisco.
Hope powered by our love for this city we call home. But hope alone is not enough. Strong values are not enough. They have to be drivers of action and results.
Our mandate is to show how government must deliver on its promises:
● Clean and safe streets for all.
● Tackling our drug and behavioral health crisis.
● Shaking up the corrupt and ineffective bureaucracy.
● Building enough housing so our neighbors can afford to live here.
● Supporting our small businesses.
● And breathing life back into our downtown.
Executing on these promises requires us to be courageous, compassionate, and honest. Turning around this city is not going to happen overnight.
We have extremely difficult challenges ahead. But our opportunities and advantages are far more powerful.
We must turn the page on the politics of demonizing each other on every issue.
In the realities of everyday life, people don’t see themselves as progressives, moderates, or conservatives. We see ourselves as San Franciscans.
So many people love this city. It’s time for us to start making people feel like the city loves them back.
We have to take care of our teachers, police officers, firefighters, and nurses.
We have to support neighborhood small businesses, attract business back downtown, and foster a home for arts and culture.
We have started an aggressive search for a world-class administration that reflects the passion and diversity of the San Franciscans they will serve.
The people I hire and appoint will not be in service to me, they will be in service to YOU and your desire to have a city hall that works, one that listens to you, even when we don’t agree.
As we celebrate this victory, I recognize that many feel a great sense of fear and loss about the state of our country. I share those concerns.
Under my watch, San Francisco will stand up for the rights of ALL of our neighbors. We will never turn a blind eye to racism, bigotry, or anti-asian hate.
We will continue to harness the power of innovation, protect the future of our planet, and once again become a magnet for creative minds.
As your mayor, I’m going to take aim at the problems that need solving right here in San Francisco, because that is what the people of this city have elected me to do.
And I want to be clear, ONLY by reclaiming our place as a thriving American city can San Francisco be a model of progress for our nation.
To execute on that promise of progress -- I will create a government centered on accountability, service, and change so that we can be a city that is safe and welcoming for all.
Together, we must roll up our sleeves. Because when San Francisco wins, we ALL win.
I am deeply humbled by your faith in me to bring compassion and accountable leadership back to City Hall.
I want to thank all of you for believing in San Francisco, the city we love...the city we know...WILL rise again.
Thank you.
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