"If Zohran Mamdani represents the rise of progressive politics in America, San Francisco is fast becoming the deflating counterpoint for the left," writes Politico's Dustin Gardiner.
Indeed, while San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, in office since 2025, took the weird step of signing an ordinance to establish a "reparations fund" that would ostensibly give $5 million to each qualifying black resident, he also acknowledged the city is too broke to pay. He urged the city's wealthy residents to contribute to the fund.
San Francisco is running a $1 billion budget deficit.
Lurie is the type of mayor that leftists like to refer to as a "technocrat." He's a leftist, but he's all about efficiency and competent government. He and other leftists swallowed hard and increased funding across the board for police and public safety last year, and the results are predictably good.
"San Francisco’s 28 homicides in 2025 were the fewest since 1954," reports the San Francisco Chronicle. In fact, crime is down across the board, reports SFGate.
-- Shootings down 16%
-- Robberies down 24%
-- Robberies with firearms down 45%
-- Motor vehicle thefts down 44%
-- Car break-ins down 43%
-- Burglaries off 29%
-- Larceny including retail theft down 22%
San Francisco's former mayor, London Breed, tried to end the scourge of organized shoplifting, but made very little progress. Mayor Lurie allowed the police a little more leeway, and the results are startling.
A crackdown by city officials and the SF Police Department has led to significant arrests and a reported dramatic drop in retail theft, making shopping districts feel safer. Shoppers and retailers are noticing the improved safety and reduced theft in commercial areas.
The homeless encampments are being swept away (or hidden away), the open-air drug markets have been constantly raided, fewer addicts are sleeping in the street, and the city appears to be more livable.
Meanwhile, San Francisco leftists look longingly and with envy at Zohran Mamdani's New York City.
At a series of meetings organized by socialists and other progressive groups here in recent months, the contrast with New York hung over the gatherings, stirring a sense of envy and anger. Many in San Francisco said it feels as if their city now belongs to the billionaire class.
“The takeover is classic: San Francisco is the jewel in the crown of the crypto and tech industries,” vented Aaron Peskin, a progressive former president of the Board of Supervisors who lost last year’s mayoral election. “They want this to be the symbolic elite tech capital of the world.”
It’s a bicoastal split screen that speaks to a realignment of America’s progressive power base. In New York, Mamdani, a democratic socialist who took office on Thursday, was swept into power on promises of free buses, childcare and widespread rent freezes. In San Francisco, Mayor Daniel Lurie, an heir to the billion-dollar Levi Strauss fortune, has focused on austerity measures, beefing up policing, reviving a hollowed-out downtown core and supporting the booming artificial-intelligence industry.
The right will have to adjust its attack vector from making San Francisco the poster child for liberal idiocy to crowning New York the "worst city on Earth."
The fact is, the Democratic Party in San Francisco is less radical, less interested in cultural issues, and far more concerned with "quality of life" issues than in the past. This has left most of the radicals out in the cold.
“The message is you can take things too far,” said Nancy Tung, chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party. Tung helped steer the Democrats away from radical policies to a less extreme agenda. She added, “Don’t expect that voters won’t notice forever.”
Billionaire crypto honcho Chris Larsen says, "The cost issue was the overriding thing in New York. Whereas, in San Francisco, it was cleaning the mess that the far left created over the last decade … It was safe, clean streets and getting back our reputation, which I think we largely have now.”
I would say you're about 33% of the way "back." Hiding the homeless, sweeping the drug addicts off busy streets, and cracking down on criminal activity that should have been done 20 years ago is hardly restoring the city's reputation.
Far more needs to be done for San Francisco to reclaim its reputation. Making San Francisco one of the most beautiful cities in America again requires a multi-generational commitment.
Regardless, so far, they've made a good start.
