San Francisco residents look towards future after firing Dem mayor in effort to clean up homelessness, drugs

Democrats in California are looking to turn a new leaf with the election of San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie, who defeated incumbent Mayor London Breed.

Lurie, a first-time candidate, Levi Strauss heir and founder of an anti-poverty nonprofit, positioned himself as the tough-on-crime alternative to Breed's lax policies on crime, drug use and homelessness that plague the city.

Lurie bested Breed, the city's first Black woman mayor, by a more than 10-point margin, 56% to 43%.  

During his first speech as mayor-elect, Lurie committed to "clean and safe streets for all, tackling our drug and behavioral drug 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 downtown."

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Daniel Lurie, left, has defeated incumbent San Francisco Mayor London Breed in the city's mayoral race. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AP/Jeff Chiu)

Steve Hilton, a Fox News contributor who also worked for British Prime Minister David Cameron, told Fox News Digital that the change came after San Francisco reached new lows in recent years.

"This great, iconic city has just been collapsing into crime and chaos and squalor and decay because of far-left policies, because the Democrats have been in charge forever," Hilton said. "You've seen open-aired drug markets, you've seen homeless encampments everywhere and crime is rampant."

"And finally, people have had enough, we want change" he said. "So they kicked out Mayor London Breed and elected Daniel Lurie. He's a Democrat, but a reasonable one. He wants to clean up this city.

"People want change in California – you've seen that across the board."

Chris Cheng, left, Fox News contributor Steve Hilton, and Lee Neves discussed Daniel Lurie's mayoral race victory with Fox News Digital. (Fox News Digital)

City of San Francisco workers remove a homeless encampment in the Bayview neighborhood in the city. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Democrats in California's once crown-jewel city told Fox News Digital that they hope Lurie's election would bring about change.

Chis Cheng, a 17-year San Francisco resident and a professional sports shooter, said that he's excited for Lurie's policies to be implemented. 

"I'm very excited about the election results here for mayor. I used to support London Breed, but the past few years have been very tough in the city," he said. "The past few months have gotten better, but it's just been too little, too late."

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"I voted for Daniel Lurie and I believe he's our best choice for mayor to turn around the dire situation in certain parts of San Francisco," Cheng added. "My neighborhood has its fair share of homelessness and drug addicts – and I live in a nice neighborhood that typically does not have that.

"It goes to show that the character of certain San Francisco neighborhoods that were traditionally safe for kids has changed. We really need someone like Daniel Lurie to come in and enforce the law, clean up our streets and make them safe again. Let's turn the corner in San Francisco."

Drug abuse and homelessness have plagued San Francisco. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Lee Neves, a California Democratic Political Consultant, told Fox News Digital that he hopes that the party moderates in the wake of the city's mayoral results.

"I think voters in San Francisco and across the Bay Area definitely sent a message on Tuesday. They are tired of the status quo. They are tired of the hug-a-criminal policies and making excuses for homelessness," he said. "They want results, they want the homeless off their streets and out of their parks."

"They want their streets and their parks back, and to be able to go shopping without being worried about being robbed," Neves added. "Voters are fed up with it. The Democratic Party needs to get a wake-up call to moderate our policies.

"We need to come to the center where people are so people can feel safe in their community." 

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. 

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