Anti-poverty nonprofit founder and heir to the Levi’s fortune Daniel Lurie has raised almost a quarter-million dollars in the first two weeks of his campaign to become mayor of San Francisco, campaign officials announced Tuesday.
Lurie’s campaign reported $230,000 raised from 635 contributors in two weeks, suggesting that this could become the most expensive mayor’s race in city history. Lurie’s campaign said 61% of contributors live in San Francisco.
Many political observers expect Lurie’s run for mayor to create an arms race between him, incumbent Mayor London Breed, Supervisor Ahsha Safaí and a potential progressive challenger, such as Supervisor Aaron Peskin.
“San Franciscans are demanding change at City Hall,” Lurie said in a statement Tuesday. “We will raise the resources we need to win this campaign, and the outpouring of support is a testament to this city’s desire for a new era of leadership from the outside.”
Lurie’s entry has the potential to create factions within the city’s more moderate and conservative camps, some of whom are still publicly holding the line in backing Breed.
While his policies are not far off from the mayor’s, Lurie criticized the mayor’s new plan to force welfare recipients into treatment if they test positive for drugs, and he has said the city is suffering from a crisis of leadership.
As of July, Breed’s campaign had already raised more than $451,000—of which she still had about $298,000—and Safaí had compiled more than $149,000. Breed had the same percentage as Lurie when it came to contributors who are city residents, while Safaí reported that 52% of contributions came from San Franciscans.