San Francisco —

on the last weekend before the Nov. 5 election, when San Francisco residents will decide whether to run for re-election. Mayor London Breedone of her challengers took selfies with costumed voters at a Halloween block party in the famous Castro District, and another waved to the crowd from atop a trolley running along the city’s residential west end.

“It was a really difficult choice,” teacher Katrina Rose said at a Halloween party, as she chose Daniel Lurie, a political novice, to vote under the city’s ranked-choice voting system, which allows voters to take turns choosing multiple candidates. He explained that he had voted as his first choice for mayor. of your choice.

But she said the crux of her decision was who could help lift San Francisco out of its post-pandemic economic doldrums and ease fears of crime.

“(Lurie) felt like he wasn’t too progressive, he wasn’t too conservative, he was more of a moderate,” Rose said.

The day before, volunteers for another leading candidate, Mark Farrell, rode trolleys around the Richmond area wearing blue sweatshirts with Farrell’s smiling face printed on them.

“He’s by far the best candidate for mayor,” Barbara Pretz said. “He has a wealth of experience in both the private and public sectors, and he actually previously served as mayor and did a great job.”

Mr. Farrell and Mr. Lurie, both moderate Democrats, have emerged as the two candidates likely to defeat Mr. Breed in the chaotic and competitive five-way race for San Francisco mayor.

Breed took office in 2018 following the unexpected death of Mayor Ed Lee. After initially winning praise for his decisive action to shut down the city early in the COVID-19 emergency, Breed has since gone on to address a series of issues, including a spike in crime and homelessness and cratered residential neighborhoods during the pandemic. He has struggled to steer the city through its problems. Downtown’s economy has also suffered, giving many people a sense that things are spiraling out of control.

Farrell and Lurie promise to bring vastly different leadership to San Francisco, but their messages sound similar to Breed’s. All three pledged to get tough on property crime and take thousands of homeless people off the streets. Their economic plan includes major investments in downtown. The technology industry has spent millions of dollars supporting campaigns, making this year’s mayoral race the most expensive in modern urban history.

The ranked selection system makes voting in races difficult. Several recent polls show Breed holding a slight edge among first-choice voters. But Lurie’s popularity has skyrocketed recently when second-choice votes are taken into account, and Farrell has historically polled well.

“Mark Farrell is staked out on the far right side of San Francisco politics, especially on crime,” said Jim Ross, a veteran Democratic political consultant, while Lurie’s strategy is to “get as broad support as possible.” That’s what it means.

Former city leader wants to make San Francisco an unwelcome city for drug users and tents

Mr. Farrell, a native of San Francisco, served on the Board of Supervisors for seven years representing the affluent neighborhood overlooking the Golden Gate. He became interim mayor in early 2018. painful political struggle. Six months later, when he quit City Hall to spend more time with his family, he thought he was done with politics for good.

But when the pandemic tore San Francisco apart, Farrell said it was his family who convinced him to return to politics.

“I didn’t have to be in this race, but I keep coming back to what I’m fighting for and what I’m teaching my kids,” Farrell said. “Apart from them, the only place I can fight with such vigor and passion is our city of San Francisco.”

Mr Farrell has touted a “zero-tolerance approach to crime”, promising to increase police resources and crack down on drug traffickers. On homelessness, Mr. Farrell has focused on getting more people into short-term shelters, rather than relying on permanent supportive housing that takes years and millions of dollars to build, and has made significant progress within his first year in office. He promised to remove all large-scale tent camps.

He says San Francisco needs to prove it is no longer a place that welcomes tent camping and public drug use.

“Our reputation is that we leave them alone and let them live that lifestyle for as long as they want,” he said. “That’s not the future of San Francisco.”

Farrell, a co-founder of a small venture capital firm, has been particularly critical of Breed’s handling of San Francisco’s post-COVID-19 economy and its hallowed downtown, which was once bustling with tourists and workers. He has pushed for business-friendly tax policies and financial incentives to bring remote workers back to the office.

Kanishka Chen, CEO of the moderate political advocacy group TogetherSF Action, which endorsed Farrell as his first choice, said Farrell has the right experience to lead San Francisco out of crisis.

“The city of San Francisco is a really difficult beast to govern, navigate and manage,” said Chen, who has worked at both Farrell and Breed. “Mark was always willing to tackle difficult issues and find consensus.”

But Farrell’s campaign has recently been on the defensive following several ethics scandals.

Farrell’s opponents have targeted him over a $25,000 fine that his campaign settled in 2016 for allegedly illegally coordinating with the Independent Expenditure Commission. The state ethics watchdog cleared him of personal wrongdoing after an investigation found he had no knowledge of the arrangement.

Most recently, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Farrell did not reveal his secret. $675,000 loan He feels he owes the family who bought him the house in Tony Jordan Park. Farrell acknowledged the unintentional “oversight” and said he would amend the disclosure document. And the SF Standard reported that Mr. Breed accused Mr. Farrell of requesting his office. Expedite permits It was to renovate his home, but he denied the claim.

He also faces new criticism that his campaign funds are improperly intertwined with another campaign. voting committee he sponsored. Farrell claims his lawyers reviewed and approved the deal.

This suspicion was enough to alienate some voters, especially after a series of incidents. political scandal it shook City Hall and non-profit organization In recent years, society’s trust has been eroded.

“I think we need new leadership, and I believe that that new leadership, as a voter and as a citizen, cannot commit any more ethical and moral lapses or be fined by the Ethics Commission.” I want him to be the person who tells them that they don’t have to worry about whether or not they will be prosecuted, convicted of felonies, and sent to prison.” Leno said he supported progressive Board of Supervisors Chairman Aaron Peskin as his first choice for mayor and Lurie as his second choice.

“That’s enough.”

Mr Farrell chalked up the accusations to a political blow that distracted from the “real issues of the campaign.”

“This is a joke. It’s all political,” he said.

Farrell was walking around his neighborhood Saturday with his dog Ridley, passing numerous “Mark Farrell for Mayor” signs and chatting with neighbors wishing them luck in the race.

“I’m very pro-Mark,” one neighbor said. “I think he’s the right person for this city.”

Wealthy political outsider blows up city’s ‘corrupt system’

Like Farrell, Lurie said he decided to run for mayor because of his children.

He said the trio was walking with their two children in the Mission last year when they passed a naked man crossing the street, clearly in distress.

“The kids were just looking at me like that…I was like, this is not good,” Lurie said. “At that moment, I said to myself, ‘There’s more work to do.'”

Lurie is also a San Francisco native and a member of one of the city’s most prominent families. His mother, billionaire businesswoman Miriam Haas, married the late Peter Haas, the great-grandson of Levi’s founder. His wife, Becca Pravda, Assistant to Governor Gavin Newsom He previously worked for him when he was mayor of San Francisco.

Lurie founded Tipping Point, a Bay Area nonprofit about 20 years ago, which has invested $500 million in community organizations that provide housing services, early childhood education and job training, he said.

Lurie’s platform prioritizes solving homelessness and crime. But he argues that as a political outsider, he is the most reliable candidate to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not wasted.

“I’m not from that broken, corrupt system,” he said.

Lurie similarly wants to crack down on drug trafficking and invest in police departments. But he also would significantly increase the number of mental health and substance use treatment beds, use police and behavioral health workers to treat people on the streets, and pay for it with voter-approved mental health funds. The company is also proposing to use funds saved from terminating a contract with a nonprofit organization.

And his economic vision includes transforming vacant commercial space for artists, nightlife and other creative industries while cutting back on the bureaucratic red tape that makes it difficult for businesses to succeed.

But Mr. Lurie has never held elected office, which has exposed him to harsh criticism in this highly political city.

In a debate last month, Breed said Lurie was “the most dangerous person” on stage because he has no political experience. Much attention has been focused on the $8 million he has poured into his own campaign, along with the $1 million his mother donated to an independent committee supporting him.

“It’s not only dangerous, it’s offensive,” Breed said in a recent interview. “He thinks he can use the money he inherited to become mayor of San Francisco.”

Sure enough, while walking through a street fair in the Castro, a man approached Mr. Lurie and said he had seen negative campaigning against his assets. “Vote no to the trust fund people,” the man said. Explained the advertisement. Lurie nodded and said the enemy was starting to attack.

Lurie’s supporters argue that his family’s money is irrelevant and that he is demonstrating decisive leadership as the leader of a nonprofit organization that has dedicated his life’s work to giving back to the community. There is.

“I know his family has a lot of wealth, but he doesn’t try to hide it,” said former San Francisco Fire Department Chief Joanne Hazewhite. “If anything, I was more interested in why he wanted to serve. He didn’t have to go into this job, it was just a genuine sense of compassion and wanting to make a difference. It comes from the belief that we can make a difference.”

Before Mr. Lurie left the Castro Fair, Anthony Alfonso, dressed as a pirate, moved quickly through the crowd and posed for a photo with Mr. Lurie.

“I like your vision,” Alfonso told Lurie.

Alfonso said he wants a candidate who is compassionate about some of San Francisco’s key issues and who can “restore law and order.” He is looking for a mayor to end San Francisco’s “loop of doom” and usher in an era of innovation with AI and new businesses.

“As a gay person and a member of the LGBTQ community, I feel like being liberal is in my DNA,” he said. “But sometimes I feel out of touch with the far left.”

He said he voted for Lurie as his first choice. Farrell was second.