Daniel Lurie, a philanthropist and heir to the Levi Strauss & Co. fortune, announced his candidacy for mayor of San Francisco this week, in an effort to mobilize voters agitated by issues of homelessness, crime and public drug use.

Lurie is attempting to unseat Mayor London Breed, a fellow San Francisco Democrat who is running for re-election. But already in his nascent campaign, Lurie is casting himself as an outsider who can bring new leadership and fresh ideas to the challenging issues facing San Francisco.

“What we are seeing on the streets of San Francisco is not progressive,” Lurie said in a campaign announcement video. “We need change in San Francisco.”

Lurie’s platform emphasizes eliminating “open-air drug markets” and a “perception of lawlessness” in the city’s issues at the center of recent

summer year

Decisive recall of Chesa Boudin, San Francisco’s former progressive district attorney.

San Francisco voters remember progressive DA Boudin. Crime and homelessness at stake

It appears Lurie hopes to appeal to those same disaffected voters while still advancing many key Democratic policy points, such as investing in rehabilitation programs, job training and affordable housing in the deep blue city.

Lurie is part of a growing cohort of political candidates with deep pockets who lack traditional governing experience.

whose

deep pockets

can help connect with voters and highlight their outsider status.

It’s easy to criticize the government when you’re not formally part of it, says James Lance Taylor, a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco.

A similar dynamic played out last year in Los Angeles, where businessman Rick Caruso spent more than $100 million of his own fortune on his ultimately unsuccessful mayoral campaign.

But Taylor said he’s not convinced voters will be that easy to win over, pointing to Breed’s 2016 contest against

well-funded opponent

Dean Preston for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Preston later won the seat after Breed became mayor.

She’s been through this before, she’s been challenged by a wealthy upstart,” said Taylor, who contributed to the new book “Political Black Girl Magic,” about black female mayors. ‘London Breed has been tested… [she] is ready.”

Lurie

46,

never ran for office, but chaired the city’s host committee for the 2016 Super Bowl and led the effort to bring the event to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. His wife, Becca Prowda, works in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.

He has spent much of the past two decades leading his anti-poverty nonprofit, Tipping Point Community. Lurie’s stepfather was Peter Haas Sr., the longtime CEO and chairman of Levi Strauss & Co., who died in 2005. Much of the company’s fortune remains in the family.

Also in the mayoral race right now is Supervisor Ahsha Safa, a Democrat who has filed to run

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to jump. A number of other individuals have also filed paperwork indicating they plan to flee.

San Francisco’s ranked-choice voting system means a winner will be declared after one round of voting on November 5, 2024, without the need for a runoff.