SF has new mayor

London Breed, San Francisco Board of Supervisors president, will become the city’s first African-American female mayor, succeeding the first Chinese-American mayor, Ed Lee.

Lee died of a heart attack in December. Breed will serve out his term, which runs to January 2020.

She called Lee a “good man” who had “worked to move the city forward”. 

Breed’s opponent Mark Leno, a former California state senator, conceded on Wednesday before the additional ballots were tallied, as the trend in Breed’s favor was clear.

There are not big differences between Breed and her opponents on major issues confronting San Francisco — homelessness and the housing shortage.

Breed, 43, was raised by her grandmother in public housing, with a sister killed by a drug overdose and a brother in prison.

During the campaign, she pledged to build more housing and to end long-term homeless tent camps within a year of taking office.

Leno said he would end street homelessness by 2020, and build and refurbish 5,000 low-income, workforce and supportive housing units annually.

Breed earned the support of pro-development forces, including a group of largely young activists who called themselves YIMBYs (Yes In My Back Yard).

She also had the support of the Chinese-American community, the city’s largest subgroup, making up 21.4 percent of the population.

Chinese groups said Breed promised to support their demands that marijuana stores should not be open in the Chinese community or within 1,000 feet of schools.

Contact the writer at liazhu@chinadailyusa.com